


Two Halves Don't Make A Whole

by Ironic_Bookshop



Series: Stardew Gang [1]
Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Smut, Swearing, potentially smutty later, so imma tag to be safe, sorry ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:54:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 46,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28428885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ironic_Bookshop/pseuds/Ironic_Bookshop
Summary: Lucie is new in town, filled with a hurt that she doesn't talk about and endlessly kind. As she's trying to find her footing in this remote town, Stardew Valley, she finds herself drawn to Shane. His broken edges remind her all too much of her own, and she finds herself unable to stop herself from interfering in his life.
Relationships: Shane/Female Player (Stardew Valley)
Series: Stardew Gang [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2140623
Comments: 32
Kudos: 81





	1. A brief kindness in the night

**Author's Note:**

> These chapters will be very short bursts, because honestly I mostly write at about 2am and coherence falls apart after 2000 words.  
> I apologise, but I don't care about it even to fix it so I'm more sorry for my laziness!

The leaves spread out against the star-spattered sky sighed out a breath of relief in harmony with Lucie.   
  
The day had been a long one and the axe in her hand seemed to grow heavier with each passing moment. The basketful of chopped wood seemed woefully small for the amount of effort she’d exerted that day - at least Lucie knew that it was only a small portion of what she’d felled. It was simply that half of it had disappeared into Robin’s hands to build her a new, much needed barn. All she was left with was a wicker basket of firewood which dug a hellish grove into her hip as she trekked back to the farm. With each step further into the wood Lucie cursed her choice to take the scenic route. It had been a stupidly impulsive decision, purely because the broken down bus made her feel a little sad some of the time. Or rather, Lucie projected her own feelings on to the broken, damaged and abandoned bus, and she didn’t need confronting with that can of worms at 11pm on a Thursday evening.

  
She let the basket thump on to the ground with a solid and wet sounding impact, and rested on the handle of her axe. Everywhere ached. Her shoulders burned with the felling of the tree, her biceps from carrying the forsaken basket back to her home, her thighs seemed to just constantly hurt these days; it felt like someone had removed all her tendons, used them to create a string instrument and then crammed them all unceremoniously back into her body. Her neck felt so taut it could snap any moment. Letting go of the axe, she lifted her hands to the sides of her neck, massaging them gently, trying to urge the painful throb away for just a few moments. Her head lolled as she stretched it towards the sky, opening her eyes for a heartbeat to take in the canvas of void and stars that spread out above her, then rolled it to the side, closing her eyes as she moved.

* * *

Then, they snapped back open again. She’d seen the briefest hints of a figure on the pier, but now that she narrowed her eyes against the dark … yes. It was Shane, Marnie’s nephew. He wasn’t the most chatty of individuals, but they’d said hello a few times. Lucie hesitated for a moment and then threw her restraint to the soft breeze, picked up her belongings and moved towards the small lake.

“Hey. It’s Shane, right?” Shane glanced back at her, his eyes widening slightly at the noise. His face was utterly impassable. Lucie twitched her lip in what she hoped was a smile. She meant it to be, but so was so tired and it faded so quickly that it probably looked closer to a nervous tic. Shane looked away for a moment, and Lucie’s heart faltered. She wasn’t sure why she cared what this moody guy, lurking by the water late at night thought of her, but suddenly she did. She shook her head imperceptibly, trying hopelessly to clear the sinking feeling, and was about to turn away when his voice returned back to her.

“Beer?” He offered, holding out a can towards her. Lucie’s head lifted again, and she met his gaze warmly.

“Yeah, why not?” She answered, closing the gap between the two of them. Her fingers brushed against his as she took the can off him, and she jolted her hand back quickly. She focused far too intensely on opening the can, and glanced at its contents. If she was being entirely honest, Lucie hated beer. It stank and tasted exactly how she imagined fermented cat urine tasted, but for the sake of making new friends, she’d cope. She drank the thing in one go, and added the can to the growing pile of cans at Shane’s feet. It hadn’t tasted quite as disgusting as she’d expected; a pleasant surprise.

“Huh, fast drinker,” he commented as the can tipped over and clattered against the wood. “You’re a woman after my own heart.”   
Lucie couldn’t stop the amused smile from forming. She glanced up at Shane, but his gaze was solidly fixed on the water in front of him.

“Yeah, well, it’s just been one of those days,” she said dismissively. “A very long version of one of those days.”   
Shane’s gaze moved across to her, the tired eyes of a man who knew exactly what she meant. Lucie couldn’t help but to notice the bloodshot eyes, the heavy lids that struggled to stay open long enough to look at her, the bags weighed down underneath his eyes.

“Yeah.” For moment there was only the sounds of the wood around them, the quiet murmur of fish stirring beneath the surface of the water. Suddenly, Shane broke the silence.   
“Do you ever feel like no matter what you’re going to fail? Like you’ve fallen into some miserable abyss and now you’re so far down that you can’t even see the light of day?” Lucie fought the urge to reach out a comforting hand. Instead, she just waited and let him wrestle with himself.   
“I just feel like no matter how hard I try,” he sighed, “I’m just not strong enough to climb out of that hole.”

“I remember the feeling,” Lucie said softly.   
An owl hooted incessantly in the background. The rhythm of the two individuals’ breathing echoed around the moonlit woods. They could see each other reflected in the water below, ripples sending their limbs tangling into the other’s reflection. Merged together in the water, they seemed to be the only thing which moved. The owl sent out its demanding cry once more and Lucie resolved herself to go.

“I should…” she trailed off, pausing mid gesture. “Actually, could I ask a favour? My arms are killing me and my farm is just over there - would you mind?”

“- Not a problem.” Shane strode over to the basket of wood and lifted it easily. Lucie, a heartbeat behind, silently grasped the axe and thanked him.

“Thanks, Shane. Let me know if there’s anything I can do for you,” she paused. “No questions asked.”

* * *

They walked in silence back to her farm, comfortable in each other’s presence. It took barely five minutes to reach the farmland, and only a further two to store the wood in the shed. Lucie was certain that, had she been lugging the basket herself, it would have taken her ten minutes at least.

“Thanks, again.” Shane shrugged off the thanks, but didn’t move from her porch. He rested one hand on the wooden post, looking as though he was about to swing himself off into the dark, but instead looked back at her.

“I know the favour you can do me,” he said, slowly. Lucie nodded encouragingly. “Don’t make a habit of the drinking - you’ve got a future ahead of you still. Promise me?”

Lucie smiled softly at him and placed a hand over his, and promised him in a low, intimate voice. Shane’s gaze fell on the hand, and Lucie suddenly flushed, withdrawing her hand. Shane stepped down off the porch and blended into the dark, faltering only for a heartbeat.

“See you around, Lucie.”


	2. How the tables have tabled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shane runs into Lucie, but sober this time. Things don't go quite to plan. 
> 
> And Haley snarks!

Shane’s head ached the next day, but he knew it would have been far worse if Lucie hadn’t wandered along. He would have stayed out far longer, drank far more and spiralled much further.

It had been a particularly rough day, with not much reason. It wasn’t as if he’d had a bad day at work - it had just been work. Marnie hadn’t been unreasonable; not that she ever was, her understanding nature could be so frustrating at times. Yesterday had simply felt like hell, so he had gone out to the lake in the hopes of drinking himself into a mild oblivion.

Dragging himself out of bed was a marathon task, but he managed it. Breakfast seemed like a step too far, however, and so he settled for simply the cup of coffee that Marnie handed him. Silence filled the kitchen whilst he drank it. Marnie seemed to be pretending very hard to mask her concerned look over her mug, but the waves of sympathy kept rolling off her.

Shane cleared his throat and pushed himself upright in his chair.

“Ran into the newbie last night,” he said abruptly. That caught Jas’ attention. She dropped the slice of toast she was holding back on to the plate and leant forwards.

“What’s she like? Is she nice - she seems nice. Well, she’s pretty and pretty people are often nice. I think she’s pretty anyway - do you think she’s pretty? Does she like chickens?” The barrage of questions tumbled over each other, the words sliding into each other. Despite himself, Shane smiled into his mug.

“What did we say about one question at a time, Jas?” Marnie teased lightly. It didn’t phase Jas in the slightest, she simply kept beaming eagerly at her godfather. Marnie raised an eyebrow at Shane, and added: “Well? Is she nice?”

A pause. Then:

“She seems very nice. I think you’ll like her, Jas, she’s very chatty.” Shane lifted the cup to his lips, then paused. He looked over the mug at Jas, who was still staring at him, wide-eyed, over the table. “I don’t know her stance on chickens.”

Jas leant back in her chair, deep in thought. She took a bite of her toast and chewed it slowly.

“Do you think she’s pretty?” Jas looked straight into Shane’s eyes, and he choked on his coffee. Spluttering slightly, he tried to recover himself whilst Marnie smiled across at Shane.

“Aunt Marnie,” he coughed, “stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” Marnie asked, innocently. Shane glared at her. He caught Jas’s eye - a mistake, as she then doubled down on her question. Shane stood up, edging towards the door, making excuses about being late and having to get to work. He managed to get to the door before Jas latched on to him and held on tightly to his leg.

“Do you?” She demanded as Shane opened the door. Shane unpeeled the young girl, lifting her back inside the house.

“Fine! Yes!” He relinquished. “Now I have to go!”

Jas grinned triumphantly at her godfather, who shook his head slightly. He spun, still holding on to the open door, taking a step as he turned, and came face to face with an amused Lucie.

* * *

“Good morning,” Lucie grinned. It was a good morning - the sun was unusually bright and warm for a spring morning. Hints of mist still lurked over the lake, cloaking the land in a wispy disguise which only made it seem more beautiful. Lucie leant to the side to smile at Jas, the sunlight tangling its beams through her hair as she did so, throwing hints of a reddish hue through the brown strands. She lifted a hand to wave to Jas, then straightened back up. Shane was still standing stock still in the doorway. “Hi?” Lucie repeated, a little more uncertainly.

“Hi.” The word came out of Shane’s mouth far too quickly. He silently cursed himself as he felt his face flush. Silence reigned over the doorway as Jas was quickly and quietly ushered away from the two of them. That being said, Marnie and Jas stayed close enough to watch the scene unfold.

“Wha-“

“ I was jus-“

They both cut off at the same moment. Lucie opened her mouth to explain just as Shane began to speak again.

“What do you want?” It came out far more hostile than Shane meant it to, the phrase instinctively feeling aggressive. Lucie’s warm smile had faded a while ago. She rubbed her upper arm with her free hand and bit the inside of her lip.

“I was headed to the mines and just thought I’d see if you fancied walking there together - but no, it’s fine.” She felt the words pour out of her, her face burning and freezing all at once. She backed away down the path, gesturing over her shoulder. “This was my mistake - I’m sorry - no, no , no seriously, it’s okay, I shouldn’t - I’ll go.” She reached the gate as Shane found the words. He was too late. The attempt to get her to stay was in vain, and she rushed off in the direction of Pelican Town.

* * *

Lucie found the nearest bench she could and buried her face in her hands. God, that was humiliating. For half a second she had allowed herself to believe that she was getting to know people, but obviously, her ability to judge characters was way off. To think that she had even tried to look cute today rather than going down the practical route, and for what? For some guy she barely knew? A guy who clearly wanted nothing to do with her and only had talked to her when he was too drunk to know better?

“You shouldn’t slouch.”

The voice cut into her reverie of self-pity. Lucie glanced up at the speaker, finding the other end of the bench was occupied by a beautiful young woman who was toying with her shoulder-length golden hair. The woman glanced, slightly haughtily, over at Lucie. She sighed loudly and rolled her eyes.

“When you slouch all anyone sees is a person with bad posture. When you’re more upright you look almost pretty.”

“Thanks?” Lucie frowned.

“Whatever. I’m just saying, you look better when you don’t slouch.” The woman dismissed Lucie’s thanks with a toss of her head.

“I’m Lucie.” She held out her hand. It was ignored.

“I know. You’re the new farmer,” The woman responded, still not looking at Lucie. She glanced across, then sighed. “I’m Haley. I live over there with my sister Emily.” She gestured vaguely behind her. Lucie’s gaze followed the gesture, but had no idea which house she was referring to, the gesture was so vague. Instead she made eye contact with Shane, and felt the pink flower on her cheeks once more.

Unfortunately, Haley caught the blush.

“Oh, my God,” she gasped. “Is there something going on between you and the Town Drunk? You _have_ to tell me everything!”

Lucie groaned, rubbing her eyebrow wearily. Haley scooted along the bench eagerly and nudged her. “Come on, nothing interesting in this town has happened in so long, I need to know!”

“Okay, fine,” Lucie relinquished. “But in exchange, you’ll tell me what his deal is?”

“Yay!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always with any of my writing, please give pointers/feedback/advice/complaints to your heart's content. I like writing, but I would also like to be GOOD at writing, so I will leap for joy at the prospect of constructive criticism (and straight up criticism at this point tbh)


	3. Could you not stumble just a little bit?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex acts on a bet, Lucie gets pissed off and wraps Shane in tinfoil to create her very own would-be-knight-in-shining-armour

Haley liked to chat.

Lucie had a sneaking suspicion that she hadn’t had a good gossip with anyone for far too long, and the temptation of a newbie was too much to resist. She had ended up following Lucie as she scavenged the woods for some wild spring onions, or spice berries, or anything else that might have grown in the undergrowth. She had chattered the whole way, gasping dramatically when Lucie had looked up at her in confusion - “How haven’t you heard!” Exclaimed each time with a glee unmatched.

Somewhere around 3 Haley had gotten bored, and Lucie wasn’t able to put off going to the mines any longer. The thought of being trapped underground in a dank, damp and dirty environment did not appeal to Haley, and she’d scurried back to her house, the flower she’d found tucked into her long blonde hair. She’d left Lucie alone, and so began her least favourite part of the day.

Hours passed.

Shelves were stacked in JoJo Mart. Shane had fallen into a rhythm a long time ago, the beat of him placing cans on shelves matching his heartbeat; dull and consistent. There was nothing in his job that required thought, or even a brain, and so he could switch off for the long hours he spent stacking shelves. But today was different. His own words echoed in his brain, haunting him from 9 all the way through to 5. _What do you want?_ It shouldn’t surprise him that he’d said it - it was his usual means of interacting with people - but he couldn’t stop feeling guilty about the morning’s events. For some reason that simple ‘what do you want’ seemed more harsh, more aggressive than even their first conversation. Lucie had been so obviously nervous, and yet so pleasant, and Shane had barely even looked at her. He hadn’t wanted to get to know a new person, he didn’t care about the intricacies of the old farm - he just didn’t care. So why did he care now?

The clock seemed to tick louder and louder in the quiet of the rows of cans, a tick that clanged of the metal tins, pounding louder and louder with each tick. Five more minutes and he could clock out. Five more minutes, then he could go to Stardrop and stop thinking about a stupid exchange from this morning.

Just five more minutes.

Lucie looked over at the wheelbarrow full of stone and her shoulder ached from the sight of it. Robin had said that if Lucie brought her the raw materials, she would build her a chicken coop, and a silo, and everything that Lucie could think of ever wanting for the farm. At the time it had sounded reasonable, but looking at the pitiful amount of stone she’d quarried so far and how much more was needed for even just the coop? It seemed an impossible task. But nothing is impossible in steps, she reminded herself. She bargained another five minutes in the mine, fill the barrow slightly higher, then, she would get in the lift and go dump the stone with Robin in a suitably unceremonious manner. It had been very kind of Robin to lend her the use of her yard to store her gathered materials - it saved Lucie dragging the stone all the way back to the farm, only to haul it almost the whole way back to the mines for Robin to use.

Five more minutes. That was all. Then she’d go to Stardrop, try desperately to get to know some more people, then she could go to bed and be content with the day.

* * *

Shane was halfway through his second pint when he saw Lucie come into Stardrop. She had the look of someone who had tried to clean as much dirt off her as possible but still looked filthy. Her hair was dulled with the grey dust of the mines, losing some of its usual shine.

Shane looked away quickly, focusing instead on the glass in his hands, staring intently into the golden liquid. He was lurking near the fire, deliberately not sat on a stool in the hopes that no one would come talk to him. He was too tired to be dealing with anyone trying to cheer him up today. Most of the townspeople had learnt that Shane wasn’t the chatty type, that the piece of wall by the fire was his spot, and that one should always leave the barstool next to him empty unless you wanted to be glowered at all evening. Working at JoJo Mart was irritating enough, he didn’t need people destroying his soul with vapid gossip as well.

He glanced back up towards the space that Lucie had occupied and found that she had moved, no longer lurking near the entrance but sat right by the till, animatedly chatting to Gus. The yellowish lighting which filled Stardrop Saloon lit up her eyes as she laughed. Something about her kept drawing his eye, no matter how much he tried to focus on anything else.

* * *

Lucie could feel the dust from the mines filling every pore on her body as she entered the Stardrop. Half of her wanted to wipe her hands on her trousers so as to not leave dusty handprints everywhere, and the other half of her knew that her trousers were far dirtier than her hands anyway. Swallowing her pride, she made her way over to the till and perched tentatively on the edge of the seat.

“Ah!” The rather large man behind the bar had an equally large smile. “You must be our newest resident, welcome to the Stardrop!”

Lucie couldn’t have stopped the smile if she wanted to - on average, the people in this town were the most welcoming people she’d ever met, but Gus seemed to be trying to outmatch all of them.

“Yep, that’s me!” She beamed back. “I’m Lucie - I’d shake your hand but I am so filthy right now, I don’t think you’d want to!” The little laugh that followed was drowned out by Gus’ booming reply.

“Don’t you worry about that. Coal dust doesn’t smell but the dung which Marnie brings in on her boots does.” Marnie looked up at the mention of her name and protested, but Gus waved her protests away. “You fit in here, don’t worry. Now! What can I get you?” The smile hadn’t wavered once. Lucie decided that she was going to like Gus.

* * *

Lucie had gained her coffee, and Gus had meandered over to serve other customers. Lucie nursed the mug of coffee in her hand and rubbed the spot above her eyebrow. The exhaustion was starting to hit, her eyes aching in the darkening room. She could feel Shane looking at her from time to time, and it was all she could do to not return his gaze; meet critical gaze with critical gaze. Instead, Lucie had a young man sat next to her, irritating her endlessly. He used terrible pick-up line after terrible pick up line, bragging about his sporting prowess. Twice Lucie moved away from him, taking her precious coffee with her, and sitting back down, only for him to tail her and continue flirting with her. Lucie forced a smile on to her face, a smile formed with venom and hatred, and looked Alex dead in the eyes.

“Go away.” Her words were curt and short, and she didn’t care that Shane was within earshot, and was pretending not to watch the conversation. “Since you obviously don’t get a hint, I’m going to say this very clearly. Go. Away.”

Alex only moved closer and put a hand on her arm.

“Oh, don’t be like that, we were having such a great conversation,” he said, blissfully unaware of the seething fury in front of him. Lucie lifted the hand off her arm with the disgust of someone removing a particularly soiled nappy. She leant over the bar, and paid her bill to Gus.

“Goodbye, Alex.”

Lucie turned and strode out of the Stardrop, cursing the fact that she heard two sets of footsteps following her out. She had hoped that moving to a small town meant that she was going to escape the jerks that filled the cities, but apparently that was not to be the case. Arseholes dwelled in even the quaintest of towns.

* * *

The night air wasn’t crisp, it was freezing. It bit at every exposed bit of skin, immediately bringing a flush to her face.

“Come on, there’s no need to be like that.” Alex’s voice drifted along to Lucie and she closed her eyes to the sound, continuing to walk towards her home in the black night. She pressed her lips together and didn’t break her stride.

“She said to leave her alone.” The voice came from a couple feet to Lucie’s right. She whirled around and made eye contact with Shane, who moved a step closer to the two of them. Lucie rolled her eyes and held up her hands.

“No.” Her hair whipped around her face as she looked at each of the men in turn. “No. _No_. I am not getting involved in whatever this is, so - Alex,” she made heavy eye contact with him, her eyes cold under the street lights. “go home. And Shane, seriously? I can smell the beer coming out of your pores from here - I am walking you home so you don’t fall in the river and die.”

She strode towards Shane and grasped him by the arm, hauling him off towards Marnie’s farm.

“I don’t need an escort home,” Shane muttered to Lucie, pulling his arm back. Lucie barely glanced over her shoulder, and saw Alex slowly start to move towards his house, still watching them closely.

“I know that, dumbass,” Lucie responded through gritted teeth, “but I needed an excuse to get out of that. Could you at least stumble a little bit?”

Shane obliged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I know that the Alex is very out of character, but I wanted a jock-type dickhead, so I made him fit. I promise I'll give him a bit of a redemption and soon.


	4. Coffe, Watering Cans and Hangovers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hangovers and self-hatred is a bad mix. 
> 
> Based roughly on the 4 heart cutscene

Lucie woke at 6.

* * *

She needed to get better curtains. Stupid sunrise waking her up a whole 15 minutes before her alarm was meant to go off.

She lay in the bed for the extra 15 minutes, closing her eyes firmly against the world, spiting her alarm clock to go off again. Unfortunately, it worked perfectly and sent its shrill scream out into the morning. Lucie’s hand flailed around until it hit the correct button and the sound stopped. For a few seconds she could have sworn she still heard it ringing in her ears, but then her unwilling groan drowned it out and let her hear the actual sounds filling the morning air.

Coffee had very much become her friend since she’d moved to the farm. The mug that sat on her table seemed to mock her slightly, the steam rising enthusiastically and dancing about the air in her one-roomed home. It was using up all its energy instead of giving it over to Lucie, and she was so tired this morning.

Why films viewed two guys arguing over a girl as romantic, she would never understand. It was mortifying. Alex was being a dick for no clear reason, and Lucie felt her face burn at the memory of Shane’s behaviour. Why he felt the need to step in - she had it. She was handling it, then he had to try to defend her as though she was some helpless little girl.

Although, he had been very sweet once they got out of sight of the town. He’d actually talked to her about the farm, about her grandfather and a little about himself, which caught her off guard. He seemed genuine - but then he had that time on the pier as well. And the next morning he was so abrupt and rude.

It was as if he was an entirely different person when the sun went down.

Lucie looked into her mug of coffee, half surprised to find that she’d drank it all. A plan formed in her mind, and she rolled her eyes at herself. But she needed to find out if the man she’d met in the evenings lurked somewhere in Shane in the day as well, so her terrible plan would be enacted later that morning. But first, the crops needed watering.

And she needed to get a hen house - no that could wait.

* * *

Shane’s morning started by him falling out of his bed. Normally, his sleep state was more of a drunken stupor and so he was usually completely stationary throughout the night. When he hadn’t drunk enough to pass out Shane fidgeted. When he fidgeted, he was prone to falling out of bed, and that was never a fun start to a morning.

He grumbled at the floor, blaming it for the ache which now spread through his shoulder, and decided to go back to sleep. He was sound asleep in seconds.

* * *

The door hit something as Marnie tried Shane’s door. She peered around the wooden door and sighed when she saw that it was his foot that she’d hit. He lay on the floor in a tangle of bedsheets and clothes. The stench of beer hit her nose and the sigh turned into a much more heart-wrenching version of itself.

“Shane.” She tried to make her voice sound scolding, but fell short. The concern and despair filled his room, but he didn’t move. “Shane - you’ll be late for work. Come on!” Beer cans lay scattered around his room, Marnie wasn’t sure if they were new additions or if they’d been there for weeks. With Shane it was impossible to tell.

The bell of the door sounded, and Marnie felt her heart sink even lower. She shut the door, trying to preserve some dignity for Shane and went to go deal with the customer.

* * *

Lucie lurked by the till, uncertain if simply walking into Shane’s room was acceptable or not. She had last night, but that was mostly because she didn’t trust Shane to find his own bed and get in it successfully on his own. Walking a slightly too drunk man home was different to simply barging into his room with coffee, wasn’t it?

Of course it was, stupid girl. Why was she even considering walking in his room - why did she care so much? Shane clearly had things to work through, so why should she fall for his hot-cold routine?

Was it even a routine?

* * *

“Lucie? How can I help?” Marnie’s surprised question startled Lucie back out of her head. She lifted her head to see Marnie shutting Shane’s door silently behind her, her hand resting on the doorknob still.  
Lucie raised the thermos in her hand, and half smiled at Marnie. Her cheeks flamed slightly, now that there was someone in front of her she felt ridiculous.

“I thought Shane might like a coffee for his walk to work? He seemed a little… out of it last night,” Lucie explained. She was over explaining, but she couldn’t stop her mouth. “I have loads of these, so no worries about keeping it, and it was a dumb thought. I’ll just -“ she gestured behind her and scuttled towards the door. “-go. Now. Sorry.”

Marnie moved quickly towards her and caught her wrist. The hold was gentle. Lucie could have pulled away with almost no effort, but she didn’t. Marnie’s eyes were full of pain when Lucie lifted her eyes from the hand.

“You took him home last night? Can you do something? He’s out cold.”

Lucie paused, and nodded. Wordlessly, she followed Marnie into his room.

* * *

The smell hit her first. It reeked of stale beer and mustiness. In the middle of the floor lay Shane, half-tangled in a blanket, a single bare leg poking out from under the blue covering. Hair fell over his face, throwing his face into an unreadable shadow, and all around him lay beer cans.

There were more on the window sill, more on the bedside table. A handful filled the bin, and more sat on his desk, more on a small bookcase by the door.

Lucie glanced around the room and sucked in a slow breath. Then, she unhooked the watering can from her belt and emptied it over his head in one swift movement.

* * *

Outrage.

* * *

Shane spluttered upright, knocking over a couple of the beer cans by his feet, moving towards the source of the water. Lucie had moved back towards the shadows by the wall, but he noticed the water can hanging loosely from her hand nonetheless.

“What the fuck?” He demanded, wiping water from his face and glowering at her.

“Shane,” Marnie said, her voice starting soft. Then she frowned and started again. “What’s the matter with you? All you do anymore is mope around your room and drink!” She folded her arms and looked at Shane accusatorially. Shane turned away, kicking an empty can and moving towards the window.

“You wouldn’t understand,” he muttered, rubbing a hand against his face. Staring out the window, he didn’t notice Jas sneak up towards the doorway, her big eager eyes taking in the whole room.

“I’m worried about you, Shane,” Marnie said, reaching out to comfort Shane, but faltering before her fingers could touch his shoulder. “What are you planning? Don’t you ever think about the future?” Jas moved next to Marnie, still unnoticed by anyone but Lucie. Both Lucie and Jas watched the scene, knowing they shouldn’t be there, but unable to extract themselves from it.

“Plan?” Scoffed Shane. “I’m not planning on being around long enough to need one.” The words were quiet, but everyone in the room heard them as clear as day. Lucie swallowed harshly at the words, Marnie pressed her fingers to her mouth.

Jas, however, burst into tears and fled the room, her wails following her. Shane whirled around to see the tail of her dressing gown flutter out of his room, and Marnie’s scolding look that she shot his way before following her.

“Jas…” Shane whispered. He sank back to the floor and turned away from Lucie, pressing his hands to his temple. “I’m sorry, Jas.”


	5. Niceness: Inconveniently convenient

Lucie didn't leave his room. She perched on Shane's bed as he cried to himself, hugging his knees.

Slowly, the crying ebbed and he turned to look at Lucie, his eyes still swimming.

"Why are you still here?" He sniffed aggressively, swiping at his face furiously. "Don't you have better things to do?"

"Yes." Lucie answered simply. "But you need someone to tell you to get your shit together and go to work."

"Work?" Shane laughed coldly. There was no amusement in his laughter, only a derision that cut Lucie like a knife. "You think that's what I need?"

"No, dumbass," Lucie snapped. "what you need is beyond me, but losing your job will make you feel like shit. And then you'll drink to numb the pain, and then you will die." Her lip trembled on the final word. Lucie took a shaky breath and steadied herself. "The prospect of which just sent Jas running from the room in tears, so imagine how ruined she'd be if you actually did die."

Lucie was being harsh, she knew it. But she also knew how to get a drunk up and moving again, as Shane stood, holding her cold gaze.

"Has anyone told you that you're kinda mean?" Shane asked, yanking open the drawers and pulling out a t shirt. For the first time, Lucie noticed that he was shirtless and suddenly snapped her eyes back to his face. The tiniest of smirks from Shane caused her heart to crack, and she cursed herself for being noticed noticing his chest. And more importantly, his abs.

For a drunk, he was surprisingly ripped. And he was passable handsome, if you liked that rugged, sharp jawline and stubble thing. Which she did - especially on him.

"They never stop. Get dressed, I'll wait outside for you." She didn't wait for his response as she strode out of his room, shutting the door firmly behind her.

* * *

The t shirt still hung limply in Shane's hand. He stared at the closed door as though he could see through, see the woman leaning heavily against it. Briefly, he smiled to himself. Who'd have thought catching her glancing at his chest, catching the faintest of pinks flush her cheeks would have improved his mood this much. His head still pounded, but now he could think through it. And he could feel the guilt rush through him a fraction of a second later as he remembered Jas' crestfallen face last time she'd seen him wasted, and now today.

He pulled the t shirt on roughly, dressing quickly, trying to rub the image of Jas running out the room from his mind. Focusing on dressing, Shane hummed to himself to distract the thoughts into a different rabbit hole.

Then, he wrenched open the door and caught Lucie's eye. She held out the thermos to him, making deliberately heavy eye contact.

"Come on, then." Lucie whirled on her heel and walked out the door. Shane followed, closing the door softly behind him, ignoring the small smile that Marnie gave him.

* * *

Marnie had moved back into the kitchen once Jas had stopped hyperventilating so much. Comforting Jas would be of no use until she had calmed herself a little, Marnie knew her well enough to know that, but how to assure her that Shane wasn't going anywhere? She had gotten to know the girl fairly well over the months that they'd been here, but Jas was still a bit of a mystery to her. She was so quiet, so delicate. Marnie wanted to hold her tight some days and never let go, to cry into the young girl's hair and apologise for the world. For someone so young, she'd suffered so much already and she didn't deserve to lose Shane too.

And Shane. Her heart swelled for her nephew too, filling up her chest so that she couldn't breathe any more. He had never been the family type, but he did his best. When Jas' parents, his closest friends, had died, he had done his best. He had turned up at her door, eyes red, a young girl in his arms and begged for her help. He'd gotten a more reliable job at the JoJo Mart. He'd tried. But he was drowning in his grief, anyone could see that. The JoJo Mart didn't exactly help things either - he was there to make enough for his and Jas's rent, and no other reason. Marnie could see it clawing away at him every day.

When Lucie had shown up, and Shane had actually noticed her, Marnie could help but to hope for the two of them.

* * *

She sat at the kitchen table when Shane had reappeared. He had stood slightly straighter than he had before. He'd even tried to brush his hair quickly, that much was obvious. Marnie dared to hope for a moment, hope for this moment of effort to continue, and had smiled at him. It was a sad smile still, filled with pity and sympathy, but for once, she felt like he might not need her small smiles.

* * *

They walked in a comfortable silence until they reached the end of Marnie's ranch.

"Why are you being nice to me?" The words burst out of Shane with a life of their own. Lucie had jumped at the sudden question, then frowned at Shane.

"Because you obviously needed a friend?" She answered hesitantly. "And it's not like I had any either."

"There are plenty of other people in this town that you could have chosen to be your friend. Alex, for one." Okay, now he was taunting her. Lucie rolled her eyes and stopped walking. She placed a hand on her hip and looked reproachfully at Shane.

"Ha, ha," she drawled. "Don't make me regret being nice to you."

Shane held up a hand in defeat. Lucie raised an eyebrow at him, paused a moment longer, then continued walking. Her footsteps beat out a rhythm on the soft mud, a melody that Shane felt echoed in his heart.

"You want the real reason?" Lucie spoke without looking at him, staring towards the town. "There isn't one. I have no idea why I decided to be nice, but I did and now I'm sticking to it."

She felt the lie stick in her throat slightly. She knew why she was being nice to him, and she felt the embarrassment of that knowledge flush her cheeks once more.

Shane glanced side long at her, and raised an eyebrow at her. She didn't turn around to look at him, but kept walking in that same pedantic rhythm.

"Stubborn, aren't you?" He muttered finally. Lucie cleared her throat in response and smiled to the ground. Her grandfather's laughter as he called her his stubborn little mule seemed to echo in the spring morning. Shane didn't miss the small smile that warmed the grass beneath her feet. "Why did you even come to Stardew Valley? That farm sat empty for years from what Marnie's said." Shane continued, the question a barely concealed excuse to keep talking.

Lucie bit the inside of her lip as she considered the question. It had been a question she'd tried not to ask herself too deeply, a question she'd been worried she wouldn't know how to answer.

"I…I was miserable." Her answer surprised her at how true it was. "I hated my job, I hated my pokey little flat, I hated the constant movement of the city and every time I thought back to when I was genuinely happy I thought of here. That farm. The town."

Lucie swallowed difficultly. The emotions filled her throat in a way that she'd never expected, the ache in her heart growing with each word she had spoken.

Shane quickly drank from the thermos flask, finding any excuse to avoid answering her. How could you respond to that? Her face was slightly pained and he fought the urge to grasp her by the hand and tell her he knew exactly how she felt. He felt the need to comfort her, but couldn't bring himself to cross the chasm between them.

"If we're asking questions I have one. How is Jas related to you? I know Marnie's your aunt, but you and Jas don't look like siblings?" Lucie asked thickly, glancing half heartedly at Shane as they moved through the town square.

Shane hesitated.

"She's my god-daughter." He finally revealed, the answer simple but raising so many more questions. Lucie waited, hoping for him to fill the silence.

* * *

But he didn't. They arrived at the JoJo Mart in silence, said some awkward, half hearted goodbyes, then Shane walked into the hellish building, leaving Lucie outside. And alone once more.


	6. In Which Lucie Would Prefer Lewd Behaviour To Apologies

Lucie wandered, a little aimlessly. She had forgotten what her plan for that day had been, and her feet wouldn’t tell her which direction to move in. Over the bridge had been a good start, but after that, she hesitated.

She probably should go back to the mines and get more stone for her coop. That would be the sensible thing to do. But even thinking about the mines made her heart ache, not to say anything about the complaints her back and shoulders would have.

But she needed a chicken coop, so she was just going to have to grit her teeth and force herself into the dark, musky, cavernous, icky, wet, disgusting place full of Yoba knows what.

“Lucie?”

Ah, a distraction. Excellent.

Lucie looked up towards the sound of the voice, and cursed under her breath as she saw Haley’s grin, next to Alex who was purposefully not looking at her. He tossed the ball in his hands high in the air, soaring towards the cloud splattered blue. Lucie groaned to herself, but walked towards the two of them with a smile.

“Hi,” she greeted cheerily. After all, she didn’t know anyone here, so resentment wasn’t going to help her out here. But hitting that stupid ball out of Alex’s hands would be so easy and so satisfying - be nice.

Haley leant forwards on the fence and her grin turned into more of a smirk.

“What’s going on with you two? I mean you said nothing, but…” she dragged out the final word in a way that suggested so much more after the but. Lucie couldn’t help but roll her eyes slightly.

“His work is on the way to the mines and I literally live in the middle of nowhere,” Lucie countered. “It made sense to wait for each other.”

“You took him home last night too.” This time the accusation came from Alex. Lucie felt the sting in the words on her face. Lucie slowly let her gaze roll over to Alex, feeling her anger bubble in her gut and flame in her eyes. She let her eye contact linger on Alex before shutting her eyes and turning back to Haley.

“You can do better.” Were Lucie’s parting words as she strode away from the two of them.

* * *

Shane let the guilt swallow him whole.

He stacked the shelves as he had every single day since he’d started working in the JoJo Mart, but his mind was elsewhere. It was conjuring up a thousand images of what Jas’s face must have been like when he had been so foolish that morning. Even if he wanted to die, he didn’t need anyone to know that. He didn’t need to hurt Jas anymore - hadn’t the kid suffered enough? Yet, that had been exactly what he had done that morning. Jas still had the knife of grief sticking through her heart, still there from her parents’ death and still ever-so-sharp, and he’d grabbed the handle and twisted it.

He was out of things to stack and so for a brief moment, the grief ebbed. But then, he had more things to shove on to more shelves, and so the guilt rose like bile once more.

* * *

Lucie emptied the wheelbarrow of stone into the compound, and swiped the sweat from her forehead. Though the air was cool, her face was red, defiant against the blue of the spring morning. She’d pushed the sleeves of her white thermal up past her elbows, and her arms shared the same red-raw look, the hairs raised, but sweat lingering on her skin. Her heavy breaths danced in the morning air in front of her.

Stretching her shoulders with a grunt, she pushed open Robin’s door and called to the woman herself.

“Please, dear Yoba, tell me that’s enough stone to build a fucking coop.” Lucie slumped slightly against the wooden doorframe, not prepared to actually enter the building and face the rush of heat that would shiver through her.

Robin smiled at her, and shimmied past her to look at the collection of dust and stone by her shed. She frowned and narrowed her eyes.

“It’s probably enough.” She admitted, returning to the inside of the shop. “It’s definitely enough to get started with. If you transfer the 4000 now, I can get started working on it tomorrow morning.”

Lucie grinned happily, and then the grin faded when she thought of the cost. She had the money, but barely. Looks like she was going to be just a little bit leaner for the next couple of weeks - her mother would have been overjoyed, she always thought Lucie could do with losing a couple of pounds.

“You’re bleeding me dry, Robin,” Lucie teased, sending the money flying far, far away from her own earnings, and into Robin’s nest. “But you said it’ll be done in three days?”

“I did. I work fast.”

“Brilliant. I’m going to go…find some wild onions to eat. Or a turnip.”

“Turnips don’t grow in the wild, Lucie.”

“They might!” Lucie retorted, letting the door swing shut behind her, cutting off Robin’s roar of laughter at her indignation.

Now her coop was going to become a reality, Lucie reassured herself with the thought of fresh eggs, and the prospect of selling something other than the random foodstuffs she picked up on her way to and from the mines, Pelican town or that creepy wizard.

The wizard that she was still dubious about; there was a 50/50 chance that the weird liquid he’d convinced her to drink was a very slow acting poison. A very slow acting poison. Nonetheless, she wasn’t entering the community centre for sometimes, because even if the thing she’d drank didn’t kill her, there were things in that building that she didn’t have the guts to face. Not yet. Not while she could distract herself with chickens.

* * *

Alex was in the same place.

Lucie faltered on the stone steps by the shop, meeting his gaze, then whirled around, striding back up them and deciding to take the long route home.

“Wait.”

Ah, fuck. He was running after her. And running away from him was a step below what Lucie was willing to subject herself to - no matter how badly she wanted to run.

Instead, she folded her arms across her chest, and wheeled around to look at the gridball player.

“What?” She demanded, staring him down. Her mouth pressed itself into a thin line as she held his gaze heavily. “What the hell do you want, Alex?”

Alex dropped his gaze, then looked back at her.

“Look. I’m sorry.” Good start, but not good enough. “It was a stupid bet that some of the gridball players… it was a stupid bet. And I shouldn’t have done it, but there is no one here to practise with, and I just thought that if I took part in their stupid competition, I could train with them.” Alex let the words tumble out, spilling over each other in their hurry to get out. Lucie arched an eyebrow at him, her fingers digging into the flesh of her arm. She waited a moment longer, but it seemed like that was all Alex had to say.

“If you have to prove your worth to someone, they aren’t worth your time.” Lucie snapped.

“I know that now!” Alex protested.

“That was a fairly shit excuse.” Her hands dropped to her sides, and she sighed heavily. “But, fine. I will stop holding it against you, in front of other people at least, if you swear not to have anything to do with people stupid enough to make you do initiation rituals.”

* * *

Alex was quick to promise Lucie what she wanted, but he was also quick to mean it. He had felt the shame rise in him that evening, even as he was following her outside. At first, he’d hoped that just innocently flirting with her was going to be enough, but when he’d looked back at the few boys that had sat in the Stardrop, it was obvious it wasn’t going to be enough. If Shane hadn’t shown up, he was going to try to explain to her why he’d been a dick, try to apologise - no. He wouldn’t have, and he knew it. He probably would have kept pushing, the need to be accepted by that stupid team was so strong, and he wasn’t exactly good at dealing with embarrassment.

The real reason why he’d apologised to Lucie was because he didn’t want Haley to know what an arse he’d been.


	7. Gift Giving Guilt Activated

Lucie had been in the valley for nearly three weeks now. The salmonberries had run out of season, which was a pity as they seemed to go down well with all the villagers. Marnie had asked her very sweetly if she could gather some for her to make jam with, even offering Lucie quite a fair bit of gold for her time, and Lucie had taken it upon herself to work out who might like some of the excess berries. Although, a significant proportion of the leftovers did even up in Lucie’s mouth as she meandered through forest, town and mine alike.

She still hated the mines, still loved the forest, but her need to go into the mines was dwindling. The coop now had two chickens in it, and Lucie was looking forward to the summer where she could harvest some feed for them, instead of pouring money into chicken feed for very little return. They’d be producing eggs soon enough, but she was a little impatient.

* * *

The egg festival had been fun. Even Shane appeared to be enjoying himself a little, which was a minor miracle. Jas had dragged Lucie to take part in the egg hunt, which she’d done with a small protest and a laugh. Trying very hard to not win, but not obviously let Jas win, Lucie had been told she could keep the eggs she’d found, as Marnie’s ranch had far too many. She didn’t object to the obvious lie.

Learning it was Haley’s birthday the following day had been a bit of a surprise. Lucie had grown close to the blonde woman, and had been surprised that she hadn’t heard about it everyday leading up to her birthday. Feeling obligated to acknowledge the day, Lucie had scrambled to find something gift-worthy and had managed to make a small arrangement of tulips in an array of pinks and whites. The thanks she’d gotten for it seemed genuine - Haley wasn’t exactly the kind of person to thank someone for the sake of thanking them. Lucie couldn’t help but feel lucky that she’d planted them at the beginning of the season.

Today, though, today she was certain there were to be no more festivals - she’d checked with Mayor Lewis when the next one was - and no birthdays. Lucie had interrogated Haley a little to make sure she didn’t miss anyone else’s birthdays. Even if she didn’t gift them something, she had to wish them a happy birthday. Acknowledging birthdays had been important to her grandfather, so if she was going to live in his house, farm his land, then she’d be damned sure to carry on his legacy of wishing everyone a ‘happy birthday’ , no matter how little he spoke to them.

* * *

It was unusually warm for a spring morning. Lucie carried a cardigan with her, but didn’t feel the need to put it on as she wandered through the forest, the whispers of a breeze sending the hem of her dress brushing against her thighs. She’d watered all of her crops at first light, made sure the chickens were doing alright and had enough food, so she’d decided today would be a day of foraging. After all, it was a Saturday, and she only really had a week until the Spring crops would start to die, and she needed to give those strange beings in the community centre some wild horseradish and leeks. She tried not to think too much about why they demanded forgeable food from her, as they seemed peaceful enough, and sometimes knowing the answer to her questions was worse than the not knowing.   
She stayed in the forest until her wicker basket was overflowing with every kind of veg imaginable and then headed towards the town.

Community centre first, then go sell them to Pierre.

* * *

Shane didn’t know why he bothered to mooch around the village shop every Saturday, but he did. Like clockwork. It was as if he was simply code, following out orders. It wasn’t like he ever bought anything - half the time he didn’t have the spare cash to buy the much nicer, and undoubtably healthier, food at Pierre’s shop. And JoJo Mart gave him an employee’s discount.

Still, here he was, and here was a turnip in his hand. He tossed it about his hand, inspecting it closely - just in case Pierre walked over at looked at him with that look of his. The one that seemed to tell Shane that he knew he wasn’t going to buy anything so why was he even bothered. By Yoba, Shane hated that look. He put down the turnip and picked up a leek.

What would he even cook with a leek? Marnie made nice food with leeks, but Marnie could make chicken feed taste nice.

* * *

The shop bell tinkled a happy little tune which made Shane start. He wrenched himself out of his little daydream as Lucie walked into the shop, picking strands of hair out of her eyes. They seemed to be determined to stick to her eyelashes, and she stepped out of the doorway to put her basket down to fix her hair with both hands.

A basket. She was carrying an actual wicker basket, lined with a red and white plaid material, only just visible through the veg that spilled over the lip of the basket. Shane hadn’t seen anyone ever use an actual wicker basket outside of films, it was very cute - and very Lucie.

A hand curled around the handle of the basket, and she hauled it back into the crook of her elbow, tossing her head ever so slightly as she did. Her head turned just enough to catch sight of Shane, hiding half way down an aisle. Eyes opening, she grinned widely at him.

“Hi!” Lucie beamed, moving towards him, her light footsteps barely audible on the tiled floor. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“It’s a small town.” Shane swallowed down his self-loathing at the lame answer, but it didn’t phase Lucie in the slightly. Her grin didn’t shift.

“You’ve managed to avoid me well enough given how small the town is,” she responded, lifting an eyebrow. “I’ve barely seen you since the Egg Festival.”

Shane felt his cheeks redden slightly. He’d hoped that she hadn’t noticed that he’d been avoiding her.

“Well, I didn’t want you emptying another watering can on my head,” he retorted, his eyes dancing as he spoke.

Lucie laughed, and his heart sang in harmony with her. She clasped a hand to her mouth and feigned shock.

“By Yoba, did I hear you correctly? Was that a joke, Shane?” She teased and Shane couldn’t help the small smile that lifted the corner of his lips. Lucie shifted the basket to her other arm, and when she looked up again, her smile was softer. “You know, I think that’s the first time I’ve seen you smile. Suits you.”

* * *

Lucie was torn between cursing Pierre and thanking him, as he appeared at the end of the aisle and broke the fractured silence that had landed between her and Shane. ‘Suits you.’ Could she be anymore awkward - just because it was true didn’t mean that she had to say it out loud. Shane had looked at her with slightly widened eyes, a rabbit caught in the headlights, and then cleared his throat awkwardly as Pierre had started speaking.

“Ah, Lucie! Thought I’d heard your voice.” He said, utterly oblivious to the warmth flooding her cheeks. “You’ll be wanting to sell that lot, I imagine?”

Lucie forced a smile to her face, and turned around fully.

“Hi, Pierre. Hope you’re willing to buy a lot spring onions!” Lucie lifted the basket to demonstrate her point, her elbow nearly brushing against Shane’s chest. She felt the brush of fabric against her bare elbow and turned to apologise, but no sound came out. Pierre gave her a warm smile.

“I’ll head back to the till then - please feel free to buy anything that takes your fancy!” He paused before he turned, and his gaze slid across to Shane. “Oh, and Happy Birthday, Shane.”

* * *

“It’s your birthday?”

Lucie wheeled around and looked at Shane accusatorially. He almost flinched, but instead shrugged.

“It’s not a big deal,” he dismissed.

Lucie rolled her eyes and slapped him on the shoulder. She then looked down at her basket, then up at Shane.

“I don’t have anything I can give you.” She sounded almost upset, and Shane protested against her giving him a gift. “Oh, don’t be a moron, Shane, it’s your birthday, I’m getting you something.” She faltered, looking around desperately, clearly wracking her brains for something. Shane felt a small pang deep in his gut.

“If you’re that desperate to acknowledge it, you could always buy me a beer tonight?” Did he just ask her on a date? “I mean, I was going to go there tonight anyway, but really, you do not have to get me anything.” The words tumbled out quickly, but to Shane’s relief, Lucie smiled.

Relief coursed through Lucie, and she nodded.

“Meet you there at, what, 7ish?” She suggested. Shane nodded and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. Lucie dropped the basket of veg to the floor and gave Shane a quick hug. He stiffened between her arms, and Lucie struggled not to compare it to the year when her grandfather measured the circumference of a tree trunk by wrapping his arms around it.

Pulling back awkwardly, she picked up the basket, and scratched the back of her neck.

“Well, happy birthday. See you tonight.”

And off she walked to the till.

* * *

Shane practically ran out the store.


	8. Gift Giving Guilt Abated

Shane had returned home much earlier than Marnie had expected. She’d just been saying farewell to Mayor Lewis when Shane burst through the doors, muttering a quick ‘hi’ before slamming himself into his bedroom.

Flustered, Marnie faltered in the hallway, before lightly knocking on Shane’s door.

“Hey, is everything okay?” She called to the wooden door. The door opened a crack, and Shane met Marnie’s gaze for a brief moment.

“Fine.” The door shut once more.

Marnie frowned at the door, and then looked away. She took half a step before turning back.

“Are you sure? You seem a little… not fine?”

* * *

The door clicked open and Marnie opened it enough to see Shane returning to his position on the floor, staring at the open drawer of shirts, all crumpled together in a tangle of fabric. He hugged his knees and looked up at Marnie. He looked so like his younger self that Marnie felt her heart cave in on itself. Wide-eyed and frightened little Shane had always sought comfort with his aunt whenever she was there, somethings truly never changed.

“I think I might have accidentally asked Lucie out,” he said quietly.

Marnie did not ask how someone accidentally asks one out. Instead, she glanced at the drawer full of discarded shirts.

“Do you want to go on a date with Lucie?” She asked instead. Shane buried his face in his hands, muttering to himself. Marnie folded her arms at her nephew. “Shane. She is a lovely girl - if you don’t want to do this, then it is not fair to string her along.”

“I know,” he whinged, sounding increasingly like a bratty child. “I just…” He paused. Then, looked back up at Marnie. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Marnie sighed a small sigh and shut the door behind her, moving fully into the room. She walked over to the bed and sat down, signalling for Shane to come sit beside her. He did.

Marnie wrapped an arm around Shane’s shoulders, comfortingly, and he lent his head on her shoulder.

“Why don’t you tell me everything?”

* * *

Lucie stared out into the air, stood in the middle of the town square, not really sure where to go. She blinked.

Did he ask her on a date, or not? It was just the Stardrop, but was she expected to dress for a date, or dress for the Stardrop?

Did she have to shower? - Yes. A sharp inhale told her that she definitely needed to shower, irrespective of the date/non-date quality of their drink.

Did she even want to go on a date with Shane? Also a stupid question. Even though he was a little bit of a mess at times, that JAW. And he was sweet. He remembered things about her that she never expected him to remember and the way he looked at her sometimes made her gut vanish.

Never mind butterflies, she gained an abyss when he looked at her like that. She forgot how to breathe, how to move, how to think. Her stomach turned to void and she could feel the emptiness in her yawn wider, dust mites swirling in the absence of butterflies.

She didn’t even know what the look was - it wasn’t as if he was actively doing anything, he just looked at her with … appreciation? Understanding? Something!

Fuck it.

Lucie strode towards the houses at the bottom of the square and marched into the first one. Emily looked up, startled.

“Please, dear Yoba, tell me Haley is in,” Lucie begged, slightly out of breath. Emily’s eyes widened slightly.

“What’s she done?” She asked, suspicion now narrowing her eyes. Lucie flapped the suspicion away with a wave of her hand.

“No, no, no. I need her help.” Lucie let out a heavy breath, rubbing her jaw anxiously. “Please?”

* * *

Haley followed Lucie home, occasionally glancing sideways skeptically at her, as though trying to scrutinise details out of her. Lucie was flustered, that much was obvious, the pinking of her cheeks gave that away at first glance.

And Haley was flattered that she was the one that Lucie had come to for help. It wasn’t surprising, after all, who else in Pelican Town had any sense of fashion whatsoever, but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable. Haley just dreaded what she was going to be working with, as this was one of the few times the new farmer had been wearing something that Haley didn’t immediately hate.

* * *

The door to the farm house was forced open with a shove of Lucie’s shoulder, and less than ten seconds later, Haley had flung open the wardrobe that stood in the corner of the single room.

“Is this it?” The disappointment flooded Haley’s voice before she could hold it back. The wardrobe was small enough as it was, but it was half empty. And half of the things that should have been hanging were folded - and oh, no. Haley looked reproachfully at Lucie as she removed the top from a far-too-big hanger, which was pushing its shoulders into bizarre points. Lucie had the grace to look a little abashed, before lifting out another two suitcases from under her bed. Haley swatted at her shoulder with a friendly scold. “By Yoba, Lucie, you’ve been here three weeks and you haven’t so much as UNPACKED?”

“I’ve been busy!”

“I don’t want to hear it!” Haley held up a hand, and began picking through the clothes in the suitcase. She glanced towards the farmer and then rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you shower and I’ll sort out this mess. You do have a shower, don’t you?”

Lucie crossed her arms at the sarcastic drawl, and snatched up the towel from the radiator, heading towards the small wooden door to her left.

“Wash your hair!” Haley called after her.

* * *

Lucie looked at herself in the mirror once more.   
She had to give Haley credit for making her look…put together if nothing else. Her long brown hair had been wrestled into two neat plaits which gathered into a bun at the nape of her neck. She felt the weight of it press comfortingly into her neck as she twisted from side to side, making the slight sparkle smeared across her eyelids dance in the yellowing light. Her makeup was subtle - Lucie had been slightly afraid that Haley would hear the word ‘date’ and go straight for red lipstick and smoky eyeshadow, but she hadn’t. She had barely done anything at all, causing Lucie to look like herself, just herself on a really good day.

So, if she’d gotten the wrong end of the stick, at least Shane wouldn’t think that she’d put effort into getting ready. If it wasn’t a date, then she just would look nice for her own sake, and wouldn’t feel embarrassed for two reasons.

Lucie had been even more relieved to see that the dress Haley suggested was more or less the same dress she’d been wearing earlier in the day. It fell to her mid thigh, and had an airy quality about it. The major difference was that it had a sweetheart neckline. And was more cleavage heavy than Lucie would really like - she really thought she’d left that dress in the box at her father’s house.

At least the cardigan helped to preserve her modesty a little.

* * *

Shane stood in his usual corner by the bar.

Marnie had washed, dried and ironed his shirt in the time it took for him to shower and find his deodorant hiding somewhere in his room. He was fairly certain that she enlisted the help of something from beyond this world to do all that in time.

His fingers twitched on the bar, dancing out a small impatient rhythm as he eyed the door. He jumped every time it opened, startling himself with his own surprised reaction.

* * *

Finally Lucie arrived.

* * *

He watched her scan the room for him, her bright eyes taking in every facet of the room. Her hand lifted to her neck and lightly rubbed the join of neck to skull. Then, she caught sight of him, her mouth broke into a wide grin and her eyes caught the light as she looked into Shane.

He swallowed difficultly, then his lip twitched, almost smiling back at her without his permission.

“Beer?” She mouthed, heading towards Gus’ till. Shane gave her an almost imperceptible nod, and her face shifted from questioning to joyful in a second.

He watched as she leant on the beer with her elbows. He noticed her lifting herself on to tiptoe, even though it was entirely unnecessary, as Gus moved over to her. He smiled at the way she put her chin into her hands as she waited for the beers, bouncing slightly on her feet, and then reached out to take them from Gus before he could place them on the counter. He watched her spin in place, this time all her weight going through her heels, her toes lifting off the ground - the heel of her short boot grounding into the stone floor - and then snap back down again once she faced him.

He drank in every single movement she made, yet somehow missed the way her pupils widened slightly whenever she looked at him. Missed the slightly hitch in her breathing as she moved within earshot.

* * *

She held the beer slightly closer to her chest, trying not to glower at Haley who now wore the cardigan she’d confiscated from Lucie outside of the Stardrop.

“Happy Birthday!” She said instead, shaking the thought from her mind and ignoring how self-conscious she now felt without the thin fabric covering her slightly. “My gift-giving guilt is now abated.”

That made Shane smile.

“Gift-giving guilt?” He raised an eyebrow at the farmer, who thrust the beer at him, only just avoiding spilling some down his freshly washed shirt.

“Shut up and take the beer, or I’ll drink them both,” she retorted.

“It’s bad for your health, you know.”

“You’re bad for my health.”

Lucie tried to look stern, but ruined it by laughing. Against his better judgement, Shane laughed too. It was barely more than a particularly audible exhale, but it _was_ more.


	9. That Feeling when the Final Step isn't there Anymore

The thought of getting up and going back to that god awful shop made Shane want to drink.

A lot of things made Shane want to drink, but only JoJoMart made the urge happen before 7am.

Things had gotten better since Lucie had decided he was worth talking to, worth noticing. Some of the villagers had even started treating him like a human, not a just the person keeping Gus in business. Before she’d arrived everyone had largely ignored Shane, he could feel their discomfort rolling off them whenever they accidentally made eye contact with him.

Even Linus looked down on him. Linus - the homeless guy who literally scavenged for food out of bins - thought Shane was worthless. And Linus was right. He filled a space, he stacked some shelves and he made everyone’s lives miserable.

He drank, which disappointed Marnie and distressed Jas, and seeing them hate him just a little made him want to drink more. And every day Jas started to look more and more like her mother. Every day she reminded him that his closest friends were dead.

Shane didn’t think he could cope with the day that he looked at Jas and saw his oldest friend looking back at him.

He didn’t get out of bed that day.

Or the next.

* * *

Lucie had barely left the farm in a few days. She’d been to Pierre’s to sell some of the crops she’d grown, and whilst she was in town she gave some crops to the strange little blobby creatures that lived in the Community Centre.

Haley had been bored and visited her on the farm, using the pretence of delivering her a recipe as an excuse. Yet, having delivered the recipe, Haley then stayed and watched Lucie struggle to milk the cows that still looked at her suspiciously, despite having lived on her farm for almost as long as Lucie had. Haley chatted away, blissfully unaware of Lucie’s mounting frustration.

But aside from that Lucie hadn’t seen a soul. Instead, she was doing the boring bits of living on a farm. The eternal weeding. If getting rid of trees which had seeded over the years ‘weeding’.   
Her shoulders burned, and her back screamed with every movement. Farming hurt, and Lucie hurt, and she didn’t stop.

She woke with the sun, and stayed up well past sun set. She buried herself like an axe into a tree, but didn’t realise she needed to pull it back to swing again. She just pushed and pushed and pushed.

* * *

Then, she burned herself out.

Turns out that mining until 2 am was not a good plan, and doing so after 5 days of less than 4 hours of sleep was an even worse plan.

She had only meant to lean against the fence for a second, just to put down the bag she was lugging for a moment, just to catch her breath. She hadn’t meant to stop.   
But then she was tumbling down the steps that she had forgotten were there. She must have fallen asleep for a heartbeat, and now she was lying on the ground, aching all over and barely conscious. Even the adrenaline from her fall couldn’t counteract the sleep deprivation, and Lucie stayed where she lay.

* * *

She woke up in Harvey’s Clinic with a headache and an IV in her arm. Her head felt like someone had drilled a hole in her brain and used her brain to show children how to slot shapes together.

Blearily opening her eyes, she groaned loudly. Lucie pressed her IV-linked hand to her forehead and struggled upright.

“Morning,” Harvey said without looking up from his desk.   
Lucie blinked a few more times in the bright, white light of the clinic.

“Wha-?” The word didn’t come out fully. Her brain wasn’t working. It felt as if it had a loose connection - some of the information was coming through, but mostly it was just white noise. And she could hear white noise too, which didn’t help.

Harvey glanced up at her this time.

“Luckily for you, I couldn’t sleep last night and I took a walk. You were practically lying in the river, dehydrated and exhausted.” He was not impressed. The scolding tone was enough to make Lucie wince. Or maybe that was the pain she could now feel in her left arm - By Yoba that was a lot of bruising. Oh, shit, Harvey was speaking still. “What were you even doing out that late?”

“Mining.” Lucie pressed a hand over her eyes. “Can I go home now?”

“Lucie.” Okay, that was a no.

* * *

Shane finally hauled himself out of his bed and made his way into town. He wasn’t going to work. Work be damned. Surely he’d be able to find another job somehow…he’d have to in order to pay for his and Jas’ rent.   
Being outside was good. He could tell that Summer was well on its way - he was almost sad to have missed the Flower Dance. If it was this nice, surely it would have been a nice day. And free food was always nice. But, frozen dinners was all he could manage two days ago, so nice things weren’t for Shane. Not at the moment.

The breeze shook him out of his reverie, and he looked around the town square. There were a few people milling around; Haley and Alex were over in the corner pretending like they didn’t have feelings for each other when it was so clear they did. Alex tossed the grid ball in the air. Arrogant fucker. Shane fought back anger, remembering his pushiness with Lucie that night. Shane should have done something more - something sooner. But he barely knew Lucie then, how was he to know?  
He knew, he was lying to himself and he knew it. Lucie’s face was screaming out her discomfort. She might have forgiven Alex, but Shane couldn’t let it go as easily. He couldn’t just forgive himself like that.

* * *

And there she was. She was emerging from the Clinic looking slightly dishevelled - her hair was was half falling out of its bun, thin tendrils of hair snaking down her neck as she turned to look back in the clinic. One hand resting on the doorframe, she leant back in through the door, back into the darkness that Shane couldn’t see.   
Suddenly, a thought flashed through his head. The bottom of his gut fell out and hardened all at once. Shane ripped his eyes away and trying not to think what he was thinking. Despite himself, he looked back towards Lucie and met her gaze.

Even at this distance he could see her blush. She lifted a hand and waved at him, a half-hearted unfurling of a hand which curled back on itself after a fraction of a second. She burrowed it in her hair quickly, reaching around to the back of her neck. Shane merely nodded back at her, glad he was too far away for her to be able to tell the state he was in. Glad that she was the only one who was embarrassed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> plz let me know if you have any feedback of any flavour.   
> I am notorious for being a terrible proof reader so even if it's something minor, I'd appreciate the feedback


	10. Ding Dong, it's miscommunication

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I a basic bitch who loves a good bit of "JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER"? 
> 
> Yes. Yes I am. Enjoy :) (And if anyone objects to a chicken named Diogenes, there's an 80% chance I might cry, because I found it hilarious)

The letter from her father couldn’t have arrived at a better time.

Lucie curled around the letter and cried for an hour.

Shaking herself, she wiped her eyes and swallowed down the rest of her feelings. He always knew the best things to say, and Lucie was so grateful to have the father she did, but the day still needed to happen. She needed to find a rhythm again, and not let herself burn out again. She needed to - no, deserved to - forgive herself for any minor mistakes. She deserved to rest.

And her chickens deserved feeding. After all, she worked so hard to build that coop, she ought to appreciate the animals that filled it.

* * *

The chickens stared up at her as she entered the coop. They looked at her with the same expression that Shane had given her when she’d emerged from the Clinic, the same, unreadable expression that made something in her heart snap.

“Shut up,” she muttered to the silent chicken. It screamed at her in response. “Alright, alright, calm down.”

The chicken screamed again. Lucie screamed back at it, slightly mockingly, wrinkling up her nose as she sneered at it. She was not in the mood for stroppy chickens.

She snatched up the chicken feed, vaguely scattered it for them, and began hunting for any eggs.

There was one. It was so small that Lucie had barely noticed it at first, but then her fingers brushed against the shell as she sifted through the hay, and she sighed with a mix of relief and despair.

Holding the egg lightly in her hand, she flopped backwards on to the hard, hay-strewn floor and stared at it. She finally had an animal product to sell, and it was the most ridiculously small egg.   
At least her crops were fairing better. At least she wasn’t completing failing to be a farmer.

  
Then someone called her name, and Lucie started, scrambling upright. The chicken looked at her, affronted at the movement.

“Fuck you, Diogenes,” she said as she lifted the metal grill that separated the chicken from the outside world. It clucked impatiently as the metal slid slowly, slowly up into the ceiling, then ruffled its feathers and strutted outside. “You’re such a dick.”  
She stepped back out into the daylight and hunted for the person who’d called her name.

* * *

Shane stood awkwardly at the door for five minutes, having knocked lightly on the wooden frame, waited a heartbeat, and knocked slightly louder. How long before he gave up and turned away? It was Jas’s fault he was here - she’d insisted that the new farmer needed to have a guide to looking after chickens, and had drawn it herself the previous evening. She had then clung to Shane’s leg until he’d promised to take it to Lucie’s in the morning. And then woken him at 5 am - FIVE AM - to ask why he hadn’t gone to Lucie’s yet.   
She was a tyrant dressed up in a pink tutu, and whilst Shane would protest to himself that he didn’t care about being a pseudo-parent to Jas, here he was. At six in the morning, with Jas’s chicken instruction manual, waiting outside whilst a crow sat on the fence next to him and made an unnerving amount of eye contact.

Shane turned to tell the crow to leave, and noticed someone walking up the path to Lucie’s farm. Fuck, it was Harvey.

Oh. It was Harvey, holding something in his left hand.

Fuck.

Shane quickly looked away, and shoved the chicken manual in Lucie’s mailbox, starting to walk quickly away from the house. He looked intensely at the ground, his hands buried in his pockets, clenched so tightly that his fingernails dug into his palms.

“Morning, Shane,” Harvey greeted. _Fuck_. “Is she in?”

 _Fuck off_.

“Ugh, no, no I don’t think so,” Shane muttered, glancing up briefly at the local Doctor. He wasn’t quite smiling, but, ugh, his face was so pleasant, Shane wanted to punch it. Harvey pushed his glasses lightly, and nodded.

“You’ll forgive me if I check.”  
 _Oh, I will, will I?_  
Shane shook himself slightly and let out a small sigh. He needed to stop being ridiculous. He’d never had a problem with Harvey before, so why the hell he felt so irritated by his existence, Shane did not now.

 _Yeah you do_ the crow seemed to say as it watched him still. The urge to punch something now extended to fowl.

“Lucie?” Harvey had moved from the house towards the coop. Shane was still stood on the farm - he ought to go, but no. He was turning around… and now he was walking the wrong way, what was wrong with him? Leave, Shane, leave now. Don’t third wheel - do not stay.

* * *

Lucie blinked a couple of times before her eyes focused on Harvey. She held something cradled to her chest, her left hand curled around it so that he couldn’t make out what it was. Harvey smiled at her, and she responded in kind.

“Oh, Harvey, hi. What can I do for you?” She trotted down the small ramp, and closed the gap between them. As she moved, her eyes slid off his face and focused on something behind him. Harvey glanced over his shoulder and saw Shane still there. “Shane! Hi!”

Shane mumbled something that Harvey didn’t catch, but apparently Lucie did, as when Harvey turned back to her, she was smiling broadly. Harvey cleared his throat and Lucie focused back on him, her smile still broad, but slowly retreating back to a more neutral expression. He handed the envelope towards her.

“For last night,” he explained as she frowned. Confusion turned to understanding, turned to worry. Harvey felt a small pang of guilt as he looked at the slightly furrowed brows. “Hey, look don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal, take your time with it.”

Lucie visibly forced a smile on her face, and nodded. Her eyes flickered off to the side and widened. She lifted a hand and patted Harvey on the upper arm, half thankful, half moving him past her.

“Thank you, I’m really sorry - would you excuse me?”   
She didn’t wait for an answer before she was moving past him, hurrying to the retreating figure of Marnie’s nephew.

Harvey sighed and scratched the skin behind his moustache. He half turned, paused, then awkwardly walked in the direction Lucie had just run off in.

When he passed Shane and Lucie they were talking quickly in low tones, Lucie gesturing with the envelope containing her medical bill. Harvey shook his head slightly to himself, and moved as quickly and quietly as he could past them. They didn’t even notice him.

* * *

Shane returned to Marnie’s farm and sat down heavily at the table. He wasn’t fully sure what he and Lucie had fought about, but the taste of it lingered in his mouth. His heart still pounded as he pressed his hands into his skull, irritation coursing through him. He hadn’t walked home so quickly in his life, but when Lucie had stormed off back to her farm, he needed to take his frustration out on something so why not the ground?

He lifted his head as something slid across the table towards him. Marnie was sat opposite him, pressing a mug of coffee into his hand. That pitying look was the last thing he needed and he stood up quickly.

He stopped. Then, sat back down again, muttered an apology and took the coffee.

“I can ask or I can distract.” Marnie leant back in the chair, the wood creaking slightly. “Which would you prefer?”

Shane paused. He took a long sip from the coffee, trying not to flinch as it scalded the roof of his mouth. Swallowing difficulty, he looked up at Marnie, his fury emblazoned on his face.

“Did you know Lucie was sleeping with Harvey?”

* * *

What the hell was wrong with Shane?

He’d just started laying into her, for Yoba knows what, and before Lucie knew it, she was getting angry back at him. If he wanted her to leave him be, and stop poking around in his life, then so be it. She wasn’t going to be the one to apologise, she didn’t do a single thing wrong.

This was the last thing she needed right now. Barely any income, no money and now she had not just medical bills to pay off, but a pissed off Shane? Fuck that, Lucie didn’t have the energy for all that. Whatever his issue was, he could work it out himself and come to her.

Anger only sustained her for so long. Then she felt the stirring of her gut and closed her eyes tightly.

No. That was not an emotion she was allowing herself to have.


	11. Marnie'll look after Lucie if it's the last thing she does, goddamnit

Lucie and Shane tiptoed around each other for weeks.

It was surprisingly easy. Summer arrived before they could blink, and suddenly Shane had to pick up extra shifts at JoJo Mart, and Lucie was getting rid of all the plant life that seemed to grow overnight. Weeds loved her farm. Crops less so.

* * *

Lucie was constantly tired, and constantly aching. Trips to the Clinic became more frequent, and her wallet ever lighter. At least she hadn’t actually fallen asleep in the middle of town again. By Yoba, that had been the most embarrassing thing to have to live through, waking up in a Clinic with no clue as to how, or why, or where, or even when.

She didn’t think about the fact that not talking to Shane made her feel lonelier than she’d ever felt in her life, despite the close friendship she now had with Haley, Emily - and hell, even with Alex. She saw people daily, she spoke and laughed and worked daily, but she still felt as though something had dropped out of her. She ignored the fact that she would go seek out Marnie whenever she knew Shane to be out, gift her something meaningless in the hopes that Marnie would talk to her about him. She pretended like she didn’t go by the Stardrop more often because she knew she’d see him there.

She ached from missing him and yet didn’t feel entitled to miss him.

* * *

Marnie suddenly slammed the coffee cup on to the table, shattering the silence which filled her ranch. Coffee spluttered and splashed from her mug, sloshing over the sides of the white ceramic and splattering across the wooden table. As she glared at Shane, the coffee slowly seeped into the wood, forming a stain which would never come out.

“Would you just apologise to the girl already?” She snapped. Her arms rested on the table, millimetres from the spreading coffee stain. Her gaze flickered to the stain for less than a heartbeat, then flicked back to Shane, not letting him escape her penetrating stare. Shane at least had the good grace to look ashamed as well as startled. Marnie tutted and pushed her chair back, heading to the sink as she spoke. “She has been here every day - every day - not quite asking after you. Clearly she cares about you, so would you just apologise?”

“Why should I?” Even as the words came out of Shane’s mouth, he cringed at how bratty they sounded.

“Why shouldn’t you?” Marnie countered, not looking around. “She’s a wonderful girl, always coming around with something for one of the three of us. Her heart is clearly in the right place, and she has decided to care about you - something you make extraordinarily difficult to do - so just…” Marnie took a deep breath and looked over her shoulder towards Shane. “Apologise to Lucie.”

At the name Lucie, Jas’s head snapped up. She was used to Marnie and Shane having their little arguments, but Lucie was still a novelty.

“You upset Lucie?” Jas asked, her big eyes rounding even further. Shane looked at her and pressed a finger to his lips, but Jas ignored him. “Penny was asking if you were dating yesterday.”

Shane choked on his coffee.

* * *

Lucie was taking out the day’s frustrations in the mines. She barely even felt bad about killing the creatures that dwelled in there as she smashed apart rocks, and sifted through the dust for ores. She’d found quite a few precious-looking stone that might interest Gunther, and plenty of iron ore, so at least her sulking was productive.

Glancing to the bag that she held in her left hand, then to the one she’d left by the now-working mineshaft lift, she sighed. If she filled either much fuller then they’d break before she even got half way home, but she hadn’t found the fire-quartz she’d been asked for. She was going to have to leave everything else that she found that wasn’t fire quartz, no matter how interesting it looked.

* * *

She ended up down about 50 levels in the mine, and finally found the fire quartz. Glancing at her watch, she swore and snatched up her bag, heading towards the lift. She only had half an hour to get to the blacksmiths and give Gunther all the interesting things she’d found that day.

If only the stupid mine carts worked, then she’d get there in a few moments. But, of course, they didn’t work, because she was still short hardwood to give to Junimos.

Lucie pressed a hand to her head and sighed as the lift creaked up towards the surface. It was strange how quickly she’d gone from being terrified of the little forest spirits, to hunting down seemingly random items for them. It was even stranger how the lift seemed to go so slow when she needed it to move quickly.

And what was that noise?

The lift doors slid open with a small ding, and Lucie saw what the noise was.

Because a thunderstorm was exactly what she needed right now.

* * *

Shane got out of going to apologise to Lucie thanks to the skies opening mid morning. The rain was torrential, bouncing loudly off the metal sheet roofs that made up Marnie’s barns. He could see little pinpricks in the soil where the rain had hurled itself so harshly that there was a small crater around each impact site. The constant pounding of rain against the roof drew Shane’s gaze upwards, occasionally surprised to find the roof was still in one piece.

He sat in his room all afternoon, an open beer permanently at his side, and lost himself in the video game.

* * *

Marnie was shaking out the sheets that she’d had to rewash, thanks to the unexpected downpour, when a movement out the window caught her eye.

Some poor soul was trudging home through the thunderstorm, lugging two large sacks behind them. It was far too short to be the wizard, so that meant it must have been -

“-Lucie?” Marnie flung open the window, the wind immediately pushing it back against her. “By Yoba, you’re soaked to the skin - come inside.”   
Leaving the sheet abandoned, crumpled in the basket, Marnie hurried down the stairs and rushed to the door. Lucie stood under her porch, squinting under the weight of the water that ran into her eyelashes.

“What did you say?” She asked, a little feebly. Her bags lay at her feet, and her shoulders were slightly rounded, arms wrapped protectively over her stomach. “I couldn’t hear over the rain.”

Marnie clicked her tongue sympathetically, and grasped the young woman by the arm, hauling her inside. A second later, Marnie’s arms reappeared in the darkened evening, and plucked the bags up like they were nothing.

“Shane! Come light the fire!”

“It’s the middle of summer!” The closed door called back, disgruntlement evident in the door’s voice.   
“Please - no. Don’t go to any trouble for me, I’m just headed home. It’s round the corner, Marnie, it’s fine,” Lucie protested, trying really hard to hold in the shiver. She failed. “Marnie. It’s, like, a mile,” It was three. “I’ll be okay. I’ll just go now, it’s really fine.”

Marnie looked at her sceptically.

The door to Shane’s room had flung itself open half way through Lucie’s speech, and now he stood staring at her. His expression was much less readable than Marnie’s had been, and Lucie covered her torso with as much of her arms as she could. She rubbed her shoulder self-consciously, as Marnie snapped her fingers and repeated her order to Shane. He moved obediently into the lounge to his right, and knelt before the fire without a word. Marnie shoved Lucie into the room after him.

“I’m going to make you a hot drink,” She announced. “What would you prefer? Tea? Coffee? Hot Chocolate - I think Jas has some hidden away.”

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly use any of Jas’s supply,” Lucie answered quickly, smiling at the small shape that lurked near Shane’s doorway. A small squeak sounded, and the figure quickly hurried away. Lucie turned back to Marnie. “I’m fine, I don’t want to put you to any trouble.”

“She drinks tea.”

Lucie jumped at the answer. Marnie smiled, and nodded, before heading off to the kitchen, shutting not just one door behind her, but two.

* * *

Lucie and Shane were alone.

Shane was very focused on lighting a fire. Lucie rubbed her arms, out of nervousness or self-consciousness, or simply because she really was cold, she did not know.

“How did you know I drink tea?” She asked, finally breaking the awkward barrier between them.

Shane glanced up at her, and sat back on his heels, still kneeling in front of the now-lit fire. His hands rested on his knees. Lucie hadn’t noticed how long his fingers were before. They were the kind of hands that made you want to watch him type, or play a piano, just to watch them move. He flexed them, and she could see the tendons and veins flex under his skin, blueish in the firelight. A small voice in the back of her mind wondered what it would feel like to have them trailing down her skin, to feel them on her wrists, on her neck, anywhere. A much bigger part of her told that voice to shut up, and she was so glad she could blame the burning sensation on her face on the fire.

“You always offer it first,” Shane was saying. Offer what? Oh, shit, yeah, tea. Right. Focus. “You kinda pause between ‘tea’ and ‘coffee’ like you forget that there’s any option other than tea. And you only ever come into the JoJo Mart to buy teabags.” The fire must have gained a lot of heat as his face was starting to grow a little pink too.

“Oh.” Come on, Lucie, say something more than ‘oh’. Pathetic. Shane lifted an eyebrow at her.

“Do you take sugar?” Marnie’s voice seemed to emerge from nowhere, and both Shane and Lucie looked at the still shut door with a healthy amount of fear.

“Erm, no. Just - just milk, please!” Lucie managed to choke out. Marnie’s footsteps loudly retreated to the kitchen, and Shane couldn’t help the small laugh that rose in him. Lucie rounded on him, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow at him.

“Do you hate people looking after you or something?” He asked. “You look terrified every time she offers you something.”

Lucie bit the inside of her cheek. The response that rose in her was not one that needed voicing, not today.

“Guess I’m just not used to it,” she offered instead. Shane didn’t need to hear her bemoan that relying on people looking after you was just a waiting game, and that eventually they’d bore of being nice and leave. It was a stupid thing to think.

“Well. Get used to it,” Shane responded, standing. He was tall. Oh, and he was close to her now that he was standing. She had to tilt her back to look at him, and her breathing got tangled in her throat. “Marnie looks after everyone.”

* * *

“You should get out of those wet clothes, you know,” Marnie said lightly as she handed Lucie the mug of tea. “You can borrow something whilst yours dry.”

Lucie took the mug gratefully, but still refused any further help from Marnie.

“I couldn’t impose any longer than I already have.”

“Lucie.” Marnie sat on the couch and looked at her with a disapproving look that would have made Lucie’s mother proud. “If you think I am letting you leave this building whilst it is still raining, you are a fool.”

Lucie looked into her tea intensely, blinking heavily. Her voice didn’t work the first time she tried to speak so she swallowed around the lump in her throat and tried again.

“Well. That’s me told then,” she smiled weakly. “Thank you, Marnie.” Her gaze flickered to Shane. “And, thanks.”   
Shane nodded brusquely. Then, he was sent out of the room to go find a clean t-shirt - and I mean, clean t-shirt, Shane - and some joggers.

Marnie placed the mug down on the coffee table, and moved over to Lucie. She tenderly took the mug away from the woman, and placed it next to her own.

“I’m going to give you a hug now,” she told Lucie.

“Okay.”

“And you are going to stay for tea, without complaining.”

“O-okay.” Lucie welled up slightly. Marnie wrapped her arms around Lucie.

“And if it’s still raining by 8, you will be staying here all night. I will lock you in and hide the key if I have to.”

“That sounds like a fire hazard to me. What if you’re unconscious due to smoke inhal-” Lucie felt Marnie look at her, even though they were still embracing. “Sorry. I promise I’ll only object once, and do it very weakly.”

“Good girl. Now, drink your tea.” Marnie let go of Lucie and placed the mug back in her hand. She moved back to her spot on the couch and smiled at the bedraggled young woman.

They had returned to their previous places just in time, as Shane re-emerged with two very soft looking items of clothing.


	12. Jas Imposes Tax Reforms on Teddy Bears

How Lucie had managed to look beautiful whilst drenched head to toe, Shane would never understand. But she did.

Her hair was plastered to her face, and hung down in tendrils to her chest, even though it looked like she’d tied it up off her face. It turned so dark when it was wet, it was almost as black as the clouds that brewed outside. She seemed to try to tuck her feet under her as much as possible, the puddle under her taking up so much more space than she did.

* * *

He’d been irritated when Marnie had asked him to light the fire. He was half way through a level, and this was not a game that just let you save whenever you liked. Marnie never seemed to be sympathetic to that though, so he was going to have to lose all his progress just to light a stupid fire in the middle of summer. Just because it was raining didn’t mean it was cold.

Then, he’d heard Lucie’s voice. He’d _heard_ the shiver in her voice, heard her protest, and he was moving towards the door without bothering with the game.

He’d opened the door, and seen her, and loved her, all in the same fractured heartbeat. But she hadn’t noticed him until she’d been thoroughly defeated by Marnie.

* * *

He’d only realised how much he’d noticed her when Marnie asked if she wanted tea or coffee and Shane knew the answer. He’d never been in her house, never seen her kitchen (did she even have a kitchen in that tiny place?) and yet, he knew she’d have tea. He had to focus on the fire so muchmore than was necessary just to stop himself from telling Lucie how he felt. He didn’t want her to know the fluttering that he was trapping in his chest, but he knew himself too well. If he wasn’t careful, he’d just say it without thinking.

Shane said what he felt, and felt what he said, and that was too dangerous to be allowed with Lucie.

* * *

He’d had to sit down for a moment on his bed, and just breathe. Thank Yoba that Marnie had sent him to go find clean clothes for her. He just needed to think for a second - or not think rather. He needed to just have a moment where he didn’t notice everything about her, like the way she curled her fingers around the mug and cradled it to her sternum, lifting it to her mouth with both hands. The way that she seemed to inhale the steam for a moment before she drank from the mug. The way that she always lifted one foot on to tiptoe and pressed it into the ground behind her, toes furling under the weight of her body.

That night at the Stardrop she’d been stunning, but here… it was everything she did that captured Shane and he couldn’t bear it.

She looked ridiculous in his clothes. His t shirt, which was the least embarrassing and most clean, hung down to her mid thigh, and the joggers? He would have been better off giving her some of Jas’s clothes to wear.   
When Shane had said as much, Lucie had laughed. Marnie had paused before she laughed, as though waiting for permission to find it funny, but Lucie had laughed whole heartedly and without hesitation. She’d let her face wrinkle as it would, her dimples breaking out as she lifted her head backwards and let the laugh burst out whole heartedly. And Shane had laughed with her, startled by his own laughter. It had been a while since he’d felt this carefree.

* * *

It felt so natural to sit at a table with her. Her and Jas and Marnie and him. It made sense to Shane. He was quiet whilst he ate, but Jas and Lucie wittered away about anything and everything. Lucie had complimented the tiara, and that was it. Jas was telling her all about the kingdom she ruled, her bedroom, and her citizens, the chickens, and the tax reform she wanted to introduce.   
Lucie had raised an eyebrow and looked at Shane when the young girl had said ‘tax reform’ proudly. Shane felt slightly embarrassed, but swallowed it and simply said.

“Well, if my goddaughter is going to be a ruler, I thought she ought to have the knowledge to do it properly.”

The conversation quickly moved back to Jas’s plans for her kingdom.

* * *

Marnie’s light touch on his shoulder was all the hint Shane needed that she wanted him to use tidying up as an excuse to talk to him. A small bubble of resentment formed in his gut, but Lucie and Jas were still talking, so he didn’t fight her this time.

Once they reached the sink and were stacking dishes next to it, Marnie broke into a grin.

“She’s good with Jas,” she said, her voice low.

“She’s good with everyone.”

Marnie swatted him on the shoulder.

“Hush. I still think you ought to apologise to her for your fight. Don’t think I’ve forgotten, just because she has right now.” Marnie looked warningly at Shane and he let out a heavy sigh instead of replying. Marnie continued: “I know the kind of person Lucie is. She’ll forgive you right now, but it’ll prey on her if you don’t acknowledge it.”

Shane didn’t want to acknowledge it.

* * *

Marnie had made a trifle. When she’d done that, Shane had no idea. It almost felt like she’d planned this - no. It was a freak thunderstorm. Marnie was good, but she wasn’t able to control the weather.

Lucie took ridiculously small spoonfuls, it was adorable. Shane wondered if Harvey thought it was cute too.

* * *

And there it was. There was that resentment. Fuck. He was going to ruin it, and he knew it, but he couldn’t stop the words coming out of his mouth.

“How’s Harvey?”

Marnie kicked him under the table, her still-booted foot colliding painfully with his shin. Shane held back the wince, almost out of spite, and continued to eat his trifle as though nothing had happened.

“Harvey?” Lucie asked with a small laugh. “He seems perfectly fine to me. Why?”

“Just haven’t seen him around in a while, and you seem to know him well.” The deliberate neutral tone to his voice was so suggestive. Shane scraped his spoon asked the bowl, aggressively trying to find all the scraps of trifle left in there.

Lucie frowned at him, he didn’t need to look up to know she was frowning. He glanced at her, and then a dawning realisation seemed to hit her.

“Wait… oh, this is embarrassing. You know?” Lucie burned a bright red, and buried her face in her left hand, still holding the spoon in her right hand. Marnie shot Shane a look which said ‘you fucking moron’, louder than words could. Shane could feel the swear intended even though Marnie didn’t swear on principle. She cleared her throat and said lightly:

“He suspected when he saw you come out the clinic.”

Lucie laughed quietly and placed the spoon on the table.

“Please don’t tell anyone? I thought I’d got away with it,” she said, clearly oblivious to the awkwardness around the table. Jas looked puzzled, thank Yoba. “Honestly, the amount of bruises I was covered in. I could barely move the next day.”

“Lucie!” Marnie scolded, gesturing her head to Jas. Lucie looked taken aback, flicking her gaze between Shane’s face and Marnie’s slightly horrified expression. Lucie leant back in her chair, confusion reigning on her face. A sinking feeling founded itself in Shane’s gut.

“Wait. What do you think happened?”

Shane avoided her gaze, trying not to let the guilt wash over him. He’d fucked up. He’d so definitely fucked up.

“Shane.” The warning was in her voice and her eyes. “What were you two talking about? Tell me.”

Shane had always seen the phrase ‘eyes flashed in anger’ in books, but never knew what it meant. He knew now.

He used a hand to block his lips from Jas and spoke quietly.

“We, uh, kinda thought the two of you…” he paused, glanced at Jas, who was suddenly _very_ interested. He mouthed the final words. “…slept together.”

The warning faded from Lucie’s eyes as she leant back again. She closed her eyes and shook her head slightly.

“Idiot.” She muttered to herself. Then, her eyes snapped open. “Is that why you were so weird when he brought that letter round?”

Shane awkwardly scratched his nose, then the back of his neck. Then nodded.   
Lucie rolled her eyes.

“That was a bill. Because I fell asleep and fell down some steps, and he charged me 1000 gold to sleep in his office.” She pressed her fingers to her nose. “And you thought it was, what, a _thank you note_?”

Okay, when she put it like that, it sounded ridiculous. Shane turned to Marnie for help, but she’d vanished along with Jas. When had Marnie left? He genuinely hadn’t noticed them getting up. Why did she leave him to face this alone? It served him right, but he didn’t want to be the only one being told off.

“I’m sorry.” It was all he could think to say. Lucie shook her head at him.

“You really are an idiot.” Was she smiling? Oh, she was. Oh, no, this was worse somehow. Now she was letting out a small laugh, and reached across the table to pat Shane’s hand. “Shall we just get one thing clear? Harvey? Not my type.”

“Oh.” That was a lame response. Think of something better, come on, Shane. “Why… why not?”

Lucie grinned at him, and folded her hands in her lap, looking at him with an expression he couldn’t work out. Her eyes danced, and she parted her lips before closing them again. She pulled her lower lip in with her teeth, wetting it before she spoke.

“He’s too nice. You can’t tease him, because he will view it as something he needs to work on,” she finally said. She faltered once more, then said. “Not like with you. You mock me too. That’s why he’s not my type.”


	13. Welcome to Lucie's Brain

By Yoba, how did Shane not realise that she was trying to say he was her type?


	14. Never Been More Grateful For Cowardice

Lucie had snuck out in the morning before Marnie or Shane woke. Jas had seen her standing in the kitchen and when Lucie had mimed writing, brought her some paper and a pen. Lucie had pressed her finger to her lips and shooed the young girl back to bed, before writing a heartfelt thank you note to Marnie, promising to have her and Shane over for dinner one night. She paused after she wrote it and then quickly added in brackets ‘and of course, any plus ones you may want’.

Placing it against the kettle, she clicked the pen shut, moved quietly away and hauled the bags on to her shoulders. And she was gone.

* * *

The week that followed was glorious. It was like the feeling of calm that washed over you after a long cry, but, weather. The sun beat; warmth radiated from sky and earth alike, a glow of summer sweeping over everything.

Lucie got so much done that week. Her crops were growing exactly how they were meant to, the cow actually produced milk daily and seemed pleased to see her every time she walked into the barn. Even Diogenes, the chicken from hell, wasn’t as much of a dick as usual.

He still screamed, but it was an affectionate scream. Like he hated her a little less than usual.

* * *

Lucie hummed to herself as she moved around the farm, hummed as she wandered into the town, hummed as she mined. She smiled genuinely at everyone she met, and gave them whatever was to hand, instead of questioning how much money she could get for it before handing it over. Shallow, but she was broke - but this week she did not care. Everyone could have anything, because Lucie was Happy and things were Good.

* * *

She waved at Shane every morning for 8 days, offering him anything from pepper poppers (which Marnie had told her were his favourites, then sent her the recipe, and Lucie definitely didn’t make a huge batch in order to justify giving Shane a lot of them) to quartz. The quartz didn’t go down well, and since he called it trash, Lucie gave him her actual trash the next day, with a shit-eating grin on her face. The grin must have been infectious as he’d unwillingly smiled back, and then binned it in Gus’ bin.

Gus would forgive him. Probably.

Lucie had even bought another two chickens, that was how much of a good mood she was in - she was willing to not just double the Diogenes-related-angst, but triple it. She named her chickens Plato and Sophocles, and was almost disappointed that Plato was a quiet, contented chicken. Sophocles squawked at her, but it was nothing compared to the screams from Diogenes.Sophocles sounded like he was saying ‘why’ when he made his little chirps, it was fantastic. Lucie was sure she’d be annoyed at it within a the next week, but for now, it was excellent.

* * *

Then, it started raining. It wasn’t heavy, not like the thunderstorm of last week, just a little drizzle.   
It did damp Lucie’s good mood to some degree, but she had waterproofs, and she had work to do.

She popped in to Pierre’s, partially to see if he had a bigger bag for sale, but mostly to say hi to Shane, who she knew would be looking at the frozen dinners. But he wasn’t there. Lucie forgot all about the bag, and left Pierre’s with a half-hearted wave.

* * *

He wasn’t in the JoJo Mart either.   
Or on the Ranch.

* * *

Worry set into Lucie’s face, burrowing lines into her forehead. She stood in the rain, looking around through the drizzle, peering slightly, and trying really hard not to think of all the times he’d joked (or not joked) about wanting to die. About all the times she had helped him home when he’d drank too much and thrown up in a bush somewhere - luckily he’d never remembered her helping him. And they were getting much less frequent. He’d barely been in Gus’s all week.

* * *

Her foot hit against an empty beer can. It wasn’t tossed to the side, just lying in front of the small bridge across the river. Picking it up, Lucie breathed out a shaky breath and headed towards the cliffs.

_Please no._

* * *

Shane lay on his back and let the rain fall on to his face. Things seemed to swirl around him, the rain curving as it fell. He watched individual drops, trying to work out which bit of his face they would hit, and got it wrong every time.   
Not really that surprising. He often got things wrong. No wonder it was just him, lying here, alone. He rolled over to the side, and reached for another beer.

He downed it in one go, then let his head flop to the ground, lying face down in the mud, can still in hand, the last dribbles of beer draining towards his head. He fumbled for another drink with his free hand, but it collided with a boot. Shane lifted his head slightly. The world was fuzzy, but he knew those boots. He knew the legs in them too. He’d thought about those legs wrapped around him, and he hated himself for it - what kind of creep must Lucie think he was? If she knew some of the things he’d thought about, she’d hate him for it.

“Shane.” Oh, shit, she was actually here. He tried to say her name, tried to apologise, but his tongue was too thick, too heavy. He hiccuped out something that wasn’t quite ‘Lucie’ but it was close.

“I’m, _hic,_ I’m sorry.” He spoke without lifting his head off the ground, almost taking a mouthful of dirt in the process. Lucie’s feet moved around him, and she sat between him and the cliff edge. His head was tilted towards her and he shut his eyes so he didn’t have to see her concerned face. Just another person he’d let down. “My life, is just such a joke.” Oh no, no he was talking, he shouldn’t be talking. “It’s.. uh, just, fuck, look at how pathetic this is. I don’t know why I even try, why, why do I try? I’m just too small, and too stupid to even-” a sob broke free of his lips, lifting his chest as it ripped itself out of him. “-to even take control of my life. I’m such a piece of shit that I can’t even take control of it - I came here a lot. Before. And just look down and here’s a chance to actually take control of my life and I’m too much of a coward to do it.”

“Good.” Lucie’s hand was suddenly on his shoulder. When had it got there? He didn’t want to look at her, but her voice. It kept going. He clung to it like drowned man to flotsam. “Shane, I am so glad that you’re a coward if being a coward is what’s kept you here.”

“I just feel so anxious.” The confession was out. The beer made him keep talking, and he finally looked up at Lucie. His eyes were too blurry to make out her expression, but he looked at her openly. “All I do is work and sleep and drink, and I only drink to… to, to try to dull the feelings of self-hatred that are just there all the time. Why shouldn’t I just roll off this cliff right now?”

Lucie’s hands suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him back on to his back, rolling him slightly further from the edge. She planted her knees in the ground, staying firmly between him and the cliff edge.

“I’m not moving,” she said. “So, if you roll off this cliff, you have to take me with you. But, you want reasons?” Shane nodded blearily at her. “Okay, fine. Jas - you saw how upset she was at the mention that you might not need future plans. Dying isn’t fair on her, she’s lost her parents, she doesn’t need to lose you too.”

“She has Marnie.” Did Lucie really think Shane hadn’t thought about this?

“Good point. Marnie would be crushed as well.” Of course she’d twist his words. “Also, you haven’t been to that jellyfish festival that Jas was raving about, so there’s something to live for. And,” Lucie searched in the air for words, for reasons, for time. She threw her arms in the air, and sank down on to her knees. “And I wouldn’t cope with losing you. I mean.”

Shane forced himself upright. Lucie was crying. She swiped at her nose angrily.

“You?”

“Shane, I am only saying this because I know you won’t remember in the morning.” Her voice rasped as she spoke, breathing heavily. “I would not cope with you dying, because I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you. And I have been for months.”


	15. Everyone is worth the trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was trying to do this thing where I only post one chapter a day so I don't catch up with myself and then end up taking ages between chapters... but I got excited about this one so. 
> 
> Merry 19th of January. It's a multiple-chapter-kind-of-day

Lucie didn’t leave Shane’s side. She’d stumbled in through Harvey’s door in the mid-afternoon, and had waited for him to treat Shane. Harvey could see her shadow pacing on the other side of the curtain as he inserted the drip to Shane’s arm.   
It was such a shame. He’d seen Shane slowly destroying himself for the past couple of years, but never felt like it was his place to say anything, but here was Lucie. She hadn’t realised what she was getting herself into, and here she was, worrying herself over someone who didn’t want to worry about himself.

He’d warned her that he was most concerned about Shane’s mental health. Warned her that he didn’t think Shane would improve unless he decided to, so she shouldn’t hold too much hope in the treatment plan Harvey would suggest for him in ZuZu City. Warned her that he’d definitely be out for a good few hours at least, and that she’d be better off going home to sleep.

Lucie had just looked at him, exhaustion in her eyes and asked if she could stay with him. She didn’t want him to wake and be alone. She asked if he was going to be okay, physically. When Harvey had promised her that the damage wasn’t permanent - this time - her shoulders had sank with relief, and she’d sat down on the small chair by Shane’s bed, and taken his hand in hers. She rubbed small circles on his knuckle for a few moments, before looking up at Harvey.

“Thank you,” she whispered, a little hoarsely.

“Just doing my job.” Harvey shrugged in response.

“The contact in ZuZu City is Maggie, right?” Harvey blinked in surprise when Lucie had suggested it, but she was right. He nodded and Lucie smiled weakly before explaining. “She was Pelican Town’s go to for my mum too. Mum didn’t really want to try.”

* * *

It was about 4 am when suddenly Lucie remembered Marnie, and Jas, and how much they must be worrying that Shane didn’t come home that night. She stood quickly, then paused as she got head rush. Closing her eyes for a moment, she swayed by Shane’s bedside. The forced stop made her look down at him. If she ignored the IV, he looked so peaceful, his face tilted towards her in sleep, hair falling across his forehead. She swept it back with an affectionate stroke of her hand, running her thumb back across his forehead a few times before lightly pressing a kiss on to his forehead.

The door to the clinic was locked, so she lightly padded upstairs and woke Harvey with an apology. He grouchily lifted himself from his bed and found the key.

“Thanks, Harvey,” Lucie whispered, barely more than a breath.

“I hope he’s worth all your trouble.” Was all Harvey could think to respond. Lucie looked at him, unreadable. Her hand rested on the door, half out into the brisk morning air.

“Everyone is worth the trouble.”

* * *

The knocking on the ranch door had Marnie up and out of bed in a heartbeat, hurrying to the door, praying that she would get to scold Shane for being reckless. She wrenched the door open and her heart cracked.

Lucie stood with her back to the sunrise, the pink glow spilling behind her, silhouetting her to Marnie. Marnie dared not breathe.

Lucie struggled with herself for a moment, knowing her panic was on face, then let out a shuddering breath and nodded.

“He’s fine. He’s at the hospital, he had his stomach pumped - I’m so, so sorry I didn’t come sooner. I. I didn’t think.” Lucie pressed a hand to her mouth, holding in the words. “He’s fine. He’s going to be fine.”

Marnie looked at her, then pulled the young woman into a hug. Lucie wrapped her arms back around Marnie, and quietly repeated.

“He’s going to be fine.”

* * *

Lucie anxiously watered her plants. She was too nervous to try to sleep, so she may as well try to be productive. The animals had been fed, watered, and milked. Diogenes had screamed at her as usual, but this time, the screaming was met with a defeated, “Same, buddy,” instead of the usual “shut up”.

So, now, Lucie was watering plants. She’d grabbed her hoe and decided to use the wild seeds that she kept finding around the place. Why not? If she didn’t do something, she’d go insane - and holy, shit it was Shane.

He was stood at the gate, rubbing his hand awkwardly. When she met his gaze he looked away quickly. Too quickly.

“So,” he began. Lucie walked up towards the gate, closing the gap between them. “This is awkward. How do I…?”

Lucie didn’t let him speak, instead threw her arms around his shoulders, burying her face into his neck. Shane stiffened in her arms, then, slowly placed a hand on her lower back. It wasn’t quite a hug - a better description would be that he patted her lower back, but forgot to remove his hand.

“I’m just so glad that you’re okay,” she mumbled into his neck. Shane’s eyes widened.

“Wow, it was that serious? I can hardly remember any of it…” he trailed off. She was still holding him, and her hair was tickling his nose. How, he didn’t understand as she barely came up to his chin normally, and even on tiptoe she was still a far cry from his nose. Lucie let go of him as though she could hear him thinking about how nice her hair smelled. He hadn’t said that aloud, had he?

He looked awkwardly away, moving as if to leave. Lucie tried to think of a reason to make him stay, to make him be near her where she could know he was okay. To think of a reason to hug him again, to press herself against the warmth of his body again.

“I’ve decided to see a therapist,” Shane said, redness gracing his cheeks as he spoke. “Harvey put me in contact with a colleague of his in ZuZu City. It’s kinda lame, but -“

“-It’s not lame at all.”

“Anyway,” Shane cleared his throat awkwardly. “I just wanted to thank you for taking care of me. And I want you to know that I’m going to take things a little more seriously from now on. I don’t want to be a burden on anyone.”

Lucie smiled softly at him, her eyes kind and outshining the morning sun.

“Well. You’re always welcome here, where you can… feed chickens and feel like less of a burden,” she sniffed audibly, and tried to smile at him again. Shane tried to return the attempt, which was worth it just for the small laugh it brought out of Lucie. She stepped backwards, and seemed to shrink, before speaking again. “Hey. When you say you can barely remember anything…?”

“I don’t remember anything but seeing your shoes and waking in the clinic,” Shane answered, shoving his hands deeply in his pockets. Lucie made a small noise in response, a small, half strangled ‘oh’. Shane looked down at her, then frowned, looking even further down. “Did you have to stand on the fence to hug me?”

“Get off my farm.”

* * *

Shane chuckled to himself as he left the farm, Lucie good-naturedly throwing a clot of dirt at him. It hit him on the shoulder and splintered into a thousand crumbs, but he didn’t care.

After all, she’d told him that she loved him. What was a bit of dirt in comparison to that?


	16. A Dead Raccoon and A Squirrel walk into a bar

Haley shamed Lucie into going to the Stardrop with her. Claiming she was a terrible friend who spent all her time with Shane and not anywhere near enough time with Haley. At least it was a Friday, so someone could plausibly be used as an escape if need be.

So, here she was, sat at a table with Haley and Alex, trying very hard not to make eye contact with Shane. But he was right in her eye line, his face visible right over Alex’s shoulder. And Alex was just talking about grid ball, which Lucie knew embarrassingly little about. Lucie couldn’t help but make eye contact with Shane, and his raised eyebrow made her grow warm. She filled with the necklace at her throat, then glanced at the drinks at the table. She took an opportunity to jump in, when Alex paused for breath. How Haley could sit there and listen to this non-stop, Lucie didn’t know.

“Drinks?” She offered. Haley grinned and named a concoction that Lucie had never heard of, whilst Alex thankfully asked for something much more simple; a ‘yeah, just whatever’. “Great - but you need to pay me back for this round, because I’m broke.” Lucie sang the final word and scooped up empty glasses.

* * *

Lucie was going to the bar. Shane glanced down at the glass in his hand, drained it, and then sidled up to Lucie, feigning surprise to see her there. She smiled warmly at him, whilst Emily promised them she’d only be a minute.

“Hey,” Lucie smiled.

“Hey, yourself.” Shane tapped his fingers against the bar, slightly nervously. Lucie took a step slightly closer to him, fabric whispering against fabric as her skirt brushed his trousers.

“You could join us, you know,” She offered, gesturing with her head towards the table where Haley and Alex leant together conspiratorially.

“I don’t think they’d like that,” Shane protested. Lucie tapped his arm with the back of her hand. It wasn’t quite a swat, but the intent was there.

“I’d like it. And I’m inviting you over, so if they have a problem then its their problem.” She looked over at them, then back at Shane. “And to be honest, they’re more interested in talking to each other.”

That brought a smile to Shane’s face. He wasn’t the only one who’d noticed Haley and Alex’s budding relationship then. He was about to respond when Emily slid towards them and beamed at the two of them.

“What can I get you?”

“Whatever the hell your sister’s drinking, and three,” Lucie glanced up at Shane who shook his head slightly. “two beers, please.”   
Emily nodded her head and looked at Shane inquisitively.

“Sparkling water, again. Thanks Emily.” He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. He tried not to notice the smile that Lucie tried to hide behind her hair. Emily seemed to be taking a long time to get four drinks.

“If you promise me Haley won’t start on about my hair, I’ll join you.” Shane spoke before he realised he was having the thought process. Lucie laughed and scrunched her face in confusion.

“Your hair? What’s wrong with your hair?” She reached a hand out as if to touch it, but with drew it quickly. “I like your hair.”

“Apparently, it looks like a dead raccoon.” The deadpan delivery made the comment the funniest thing Lucie had ever heard - or at least, that was how she acted.

She placed a hand on Shane’s arm, and promised him that if Haley commented on the hair, she would duel her on Shane’s behalf.

* * *

“You’ve never been to a grid ball game?”

By Yoba, why did this have to be the thing that Shane and Alex bonded over?

* * *

Lucie shrugged, and picked up her beer.

“I never went when I was in college, and here we are. Grid ball game-less,” she said lightly, trying to drown her embarrassment in the beer. Alex looked at her like she’d just told him she had three heads and he was trying to work out where the other two were. Shane was much more straight forward to read - he was simply amused by her.

“But - but how could you have just never gone?” Alex spluttered. “It’s a rite of passage! It’s like, the highlight of every week!”

“It’s basically an elaborate game of fetch,” Lucie countered. “I’d just much rather spend any day off with a good book and the cat.”

“What’s your cat called? Sallust?” Haley raised an artfully sculpted eyebrow at her. Lucie glowered jokingly at her.

“A. If you don’t stop making fun of Diogenes, I will never tell you the name of my goat, and B. That was a very intellectual joke, I am very proud. But you should be careful or people will realise that you are an even bigger dork than me.” Lucie crossed her arms and sat back as Shane grinned at her. Haley opened her mouth to retort, then snapped it shut again.

“I don’t get it,” Alex frowned. Haley patted him on the arm, as if to tell him it was okay he didn’t get it, but his frown only deepened.

“I named my chickens after Greek philosophers, because the first one I got I named Diogenes. You know the -“

“‘Behold! A man!” Chorused Shane, Haley and Lucie.

“dude?” Lucie completed. Alex seemed to shift through his memories, and Haley moved to promise to explain it later, but Alex’s face lit up.

“The plucked chicken thing?”

“Yeah!” Lucie beamed. “It’s a good name, right?”

“If I tell you it’s a great name, will you go to a grid ball game?” Alex asked, grinning at her. “It’s an experience! Come on!”

“I thought we’d moved on from grid ball!” Lucie protested. She hid her face in her hands as Alex continued to promise her she’d enjoy it. She stayed hidden until Shane spoke up.

“I mean, I accidentally bought two tickets for next week’s game,” he said. Lucie slowly lifted her head out of her hands. “So, you could always come with me. I’ll tell you when to cheer.”

Lucie looked only at Shane, her eyes falling to his lips as he spoke despite her best efforts.

“Okay.” She said quietly. She cleared her throat. “I mean, I’d hate for a ticket to go to waste.”

* * *

Haley and Alex took advantage of Lucie going to the toilet to round on Shane. He’d picked up his drink, trying to delay having to think of something to say to them, when Alex turned to him, grinning madly.

“Tickets for next week’s game don’t go on sale until Tuesday,” he pointed out, entirely correct. Shane told him to shut up. “You like Lucie.”

Haley rolled her eyes, but she too was smirking at Shane.

“Come on, Alex, everyone knows that he likes her,” Haley drawled. She seemed to sparkle with the opportunity to tease Shane. She turned more to Shane and leant towards him. “You know, on your birthday, she demanded that I helped her dress for your ‘not date’? It was cute.”

This conversation had taken a turn for the interesting.

“Have you bought her flowers yet?” Alex asked, before doubting himself and turning to Haley. “Girls like flowers, right?” Haley patted his hand again. That seemed to be a common occurrence of hers. Shane made a mental note to keep his hands well away from Haley when she looked like she might pat him. He did not need the condescending pat.

“Yes, Alex, girls like flowers. Lucie likes hyacinths if you’re getting her a potted plant, and if you’re going for a bouquet then she’s basic as hell and like lilies.” Haley had turned to her nails as she told Shane Lucie’s favourite flowers as if that was something he ought to know. Shane almost felt like he ought to be jotting down notes. Haley lifted her gaze from her nails and looked at the two men. “And, for the record, I know what she’s named her goat, and she is not as funny as she thinks she is. It’s called song, and the next one, I guarantee, will be named tragedy.”

“What tragedies are we talking about?” Lucie asked wryly from behind Shane, causing him to jump. His face flooded with warmth, as she continued to stare at Haley. Shane could feel her hand resting on the back of his chair, her fingers lightly touching his back. She withdrew it, but it was quickly replaced with her other hand as she stepped slightly around Shane’s chair.

“Just the tragedy of your animal naming skills,” Haley said, smiling innocently. Lucie’s hand withdrew from Shane’s back and landed heavily on the back of the chair once more. Shane felt as though he could breathe now that her hand was gone.

“Who told you?’

“No one told me.”

“Was it Marnie?”

“No one told me, you’re just not as funny as you think,” Haley retorted. She raised an eyebrow at Lucie. “I mean. Goats… named song and tragedy? Instead of tragedy being goat song? It’s pathetic.”

“I hate you,” Lucie said as she sat down heavily. When she pulled out her chair, she’d managed to move it closer to Shane, and when she sat her knee brushed against his. Was it deliberate? Shane didn’t dare move his leg, just in case it was an accident and she withdrew it. But then she looked up at him and smiled.   
What was that smile? What was he supposed to think about this? She’d seemed so relieved when he’d told her that he didn’t remember that afternoon, that he didn’t remember her telling him that she loved him.  
But now?

* * *

Shane walked Lucie home. It seemed the right thing to do.

And also Lucie had told him to, and he was fairly certain Marnie heard, so he’d incur the wrath of two separate women if he said no.

* * *

She faltered in the doorway. Lucie had asked him to walk her home, sure that he’d get the hint. She’d brushed up against him at every opportunity - although that was only semi-deliberate. She teased, and complimented, and smiled. She did everything short of holding up a sign which read ‘I AM FLIRTING’.

She didn’t do this often, and it was so painfully obvious. She lifted a hand to the back of her neck and rubbed, hard. She was sure there would be red lines across the back of her neck now, but she didn’t care. She only cared about the man standing in front of her, down a step - no, two - so that their eyes were level. Lucie left the door open and moved the single step towards Shane. She was so close to him she could feel his body heat, feel their heartbeats meet mid air and tangle together.

“Would you like to in?” She asked quickly, her words coming out too fast. Shane smirked at her, and she felt yet another one of her heart strings snap from tension.

“I think you were missing a verb in that sentence,” he teased. Fuck, she had forgotten the word come. Of all the words. “But, okay. I would like to in.”

As he laughed, Lucie could feel the air around her move. She just had to lean towards him to kiss him, it was barely a centimetre between them.

“Okay,” she breathed, lost counting Shane’s eyelashes. She squeezed her eyes shut, then stepped to the side, and gestured for him to walk. “After you.”

* * *

Shane wasn’t quite sure why she was flustered, but she was. She apologised about the size of her farm house, then at the state of her kitchen - although, kitchen was generous. It was a stove, a mini fridge and a kettle. Her food was stored in the cardboard boxes that she’d brought her stuff in.

He stood still in the middle of the room whilst she flapped around him, shoving things away - including two suitcases that seemed to still have clothes in them, which were hastily shoved under the bed.

“I’m so sorry about the mess, I just got caught up with all the farming stuff and never bothered to actually unpack properly. I supposed I should do it soon, or Haley will never let me hear the end of it -“ she cut off as the kettle let out a shrill whistle, and skidded around. “Oh! The tea!”

“Lucie?” Shane spoke softly as he followed her to the kitchen. She looked up at him, with large, deer-caught-in-headlights eyes. “You’ve seen the state of my room. I’ll forgive you any mess.”

She burned and turned back to the tea.

* * *

Lucie didn’t have a couch. She should have thought of this before she invited someone around - oh, god, she said that she’d have Marnie, Lewis and Shane for dinner one night and she didn’t have a dining table.

That was a problem for another time. Right now, she had two mugs of tea slowly melting her hand to goo and nowhere to put them down. Nor anywhere for Shane to sit.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t really think through the no-couch issue,” she apologised. At least her voice had calmed down to a normal pitch and speed. “I hope you don’t mind sitting on the bed?”

Don’t blush. Do not blush.

She caught sight of her reflection in the dark window pane. She was definitely blushing. She needed to stop thinking of the less innocent connotations to her words.

Shane was already sat on her bed, and she tentatively sat down next to him. She brought the mug to her face and paused, slowly breathing in the tendrils of steam that rose from the mug.

“It’s really cute how you do that.”

Did he just call her cute? Oh, there was no hope for her poor face now. It was going to be the colour of a tomato forever.

She looked up at him questioningly. He nodded to the mug that she still held in front of her face.

“The way you breathe it in before you drink. It’s sweet.” Shane looked away quickly, and drank from his own mug. Then, he looked back at her and added: “Plus, when you sit like that you look like a squirrel.”

* * *

Lucie hit him.

By Yoba she wanted to kiss him.

He said she looked like a squirrel, and she wanted to kiss him. Logic was obviously not going to be at work tonight.

“You didn’t have to invite me to the grid ball game - I don’t have to go if you want to go alone,” she said, just to fill the silence. Shane looked at her, scrunching up his nose in confusion. Great, now she wanted to kiss his nose as well as his lips. She wondered if they were as soft as they looked - stop it, Lucie!

“Why wouldn’t I want you to go?” He asked. She dragged her eyes to his own.

“Who’d want to go with someone who’ll ask you questions every five minutes?” She answered, lightly laughing. Why was she laughing? By Yoba this was getting ridiculous, pull yourself together woman. Luckily, Shane laughed too.

“Lucie, you do know that I normally go with Jas? I always go with someone who asks a 100 questions.” He smiled at her kindly.

* * *

Something clicked in Lucie’s head. Her eyes widened slightly and she stared down into her tea. A smile spread over her face.

Shane nudged her lightly with an elbow.

“What?” He asked. Lucie bit her lip and then looked up at Shane.

“You normally go with Jas?”

“Yeah…?”

“But you ‘accidentally’ bought two tickets?” She raised an eyebrow. Now it was Shane’s turn to go red. He muttered something and turned away. Lucie frowned and poked him in the back. He sighed and then repeated his muttered answer.

“Tickets don’t even go on sale until Tuesday,” he admitted sheepishly. Lucie beamed at him. She swung her shoulder into his, bumping him lightly, forcing him to look at her. He turned to her and raised an eyebrow at her, but she kept grinning at him. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No reason.” Lucie sang her answer more than said it. She tried to ignore the way her heart ruffled its feathers whenever their eyes met, she tried to ignore the clock that told her that she ought to kick Shane out before Marnie started to worry, she tried to ignore the pulsing of blood that she could feel through all of her veins simultaneously. Her whole body pulsed. 

Shane left, and Lucie tried really hard not to be disappointed. She’d see him again tomorrow, but there was something about being alone with him in the night that made her heart ache. In a good way. In a way that she never wanted it to end. She wanted to find excuses to touch him - not sexually, just a hand on his arm, brushing his hair out of his eyes - just to feel the warmth of his skin. Just to know it was real.


	17. GBG. Gubugu? Grubugu?

Shane drank less that week.

There was only one night when he promised himself that he’d only have one beer and ended up having seven. Which was still an improvement from twelve, as he was reminded by Lucie. Lucie, who’d turned up at closing time and walked him home, and who looked a little surprised to see him. Which was odd, because she knew he always stayed until closing on Fridays - he always joked he was keeping Gus in business.

All in all. Not bad. He could have done better, he knew that, but when he tried to apologise Lucie gave him that look of hers - the one that was equal parts adorable and stern - and he clamped his mouth shut. So, that was. Strange.   
It was nice. But also, his self-deprecation and self-hatred had defined him for so long now, he didn’t know who he was without it. And Lucie wouldn’t let him apologise, or call himself a burden. She even had got Marnie in on the no-apologising route. And as much as he wanted to apologise… it was actually helpful. He felt less of a burden most of the time. Lucie kept pointing out that she chose to come see him - “I came here, dumbass, you can’t be a burden if I chose to spend the time with you” was now one of her favourite phrases, usually said with a big dorky smile.

* * *

Shane was counting down the days until Sunday. He didn’t know if it was excitement or nervousness that filled him, but it was something. It simultaneously made him want to drink, to numb the feeling and make it all go away, and want to _definitely not drink ever again_ because what if he embarrassed himself and Lucie decided she didn’t want to go? What if he threw up in the bushes somewhere and Haley saw, and Haley told her and then Lucie started to hate him?

Maybe he should just cancel it, and avoid the possibility of rejection out of hand?

* * *

Except Marnie had put the tickets on the fridge and if he got rid of them, she would definitely notice, but if he didn’t hand them to Lucie, she’d go give them to Lucie.

He couldn’t just bin them and pretend like he’d given it to Lucie, because by Yoba those two talked. And talked.

About everything. Every time that Lucie came to get hay, they’d chat for a good 15 minutes before Lucie would leave, or go say hi to him.

* * *

Shane seemed to blink and Sunday was there.

* * *

Lucie woke with the sunrise, as per usual, and couldn’t work out when, where, what until she got half way to the kitchen.

She had a specific thing to do today, but what it was lurked just out of mind. She clicked her tongue against the back of her teeth as she thought, shifting through files of memories like a world-weary headmaster hunting for the naughty kid’s file.   
It was probably just something stupid like ‘Find Mayor Lewis’ underwear. Again’ - Yoba, that was hilarious. Maybe she should tell Marnie that she knows about the two of them… or maybe not.

Did Clint want some ore?   
Or Haley something weird, as per usual - Lucie did not understand what Haley wanted with the apricot and the ‘For Girls Only’ only made her less interested in knowing. A cucumber, Lucie would have understood and hated to understand, but an _apricot_? What she’d want in the autumn, Lucie did not want to know.

* * *

She’d look at the calendar, but it was too early for her to even remember what day it was. Maybe coffee would help. Tea was lovely, but there was not enough caffeine in tea. Not nearly enough caffeine.

Whilst the kettle came to the boil, Lucie looked at the calendar, only half hopeful. The only thing listed on a day that could be today was ‘GBG w/ S’ and honestly, that could be anything. ‘w/ S’ was with someone, and S had to be either Sebastian or Shane, and she couldn’t see why she’d be doing anything with Sebastian. Not that she had anything against the kid, but she’d grown out of her emo phase and he didn’t like strangers, so their conversations were thoroughly awkward. So, Shane it was.

They didn’t often have plans. Shane didn’t make plans. Lucie just showed up and made him do things with her, claiming getting out of the house was good for him. What plans did they have which could possibly fit ‘GBG’?

* * *

G

* * *

B

* * *

G

* * *

GBG. Gubugu? Grubugu?

Okay, now she was just saying strange noises out loud, to herself, in her kitchen, at 5:30 on a Sunday morning -

“Holy fuck, Grid Ball Game!”

* * *

It was 5pm and Lucie was running late.

* * *

It was 5pm and everyone was on the bus, except Shane, who stood insisting that the bus waited because Lucie was coming.   
She was.

He swore she would be. And dreaded that she wouldn’t be.

* * *

“Sorrysorrysorrysorry - hi,” Lucie panted as she skidded to a halt in front of the bus. She placed her hands on her thighs and bent over slightly. Her breathing came quickly, and deeply, and ineffectively as she pushed herself back upright. She vaguely gestured and said something about “lost track of time” and “fucking Diogenes, man” and “chickens with grudges”. But Shane wasn’t listening, merely breathing an internal sigh of relief and trying to hide the pounding of his heartbeat.

Alex was even less impressed.

“LUCIE! BUS, ON, NOW.” Came the urgent cry from within. Lucie waved in acknowledgement of the shout, but didn’t move. She turned to speak to Shane, who still stared at her like she was a figment of his imagination, but was cut off by the sound of rapid footsteps, and an arm whipping out of the open bus doors. “You can flirt on the bus, now get in, we need to gooooo.” Alex pulled her on to the bus with ease and then returned back to his seat. Lucie meekly moved further into the bus, glancing backwards at Shane, who shook himself and followed her on to the bus.

When Lucie was level with Alex’s seat, he blocked her path and thrust a hat into her hands. She raised an eyebrow and then looked at the hat on his head.

“You brought a spare?” She asked, taking the hat out of fear that if she didn’t, Alex would forcibly put the hat on her head. Alex grinned.

“You can’t go to a grid ball game without a cap. It’s the rules,” he grinned even wider. “And I buy a new one every time they change the design, so I have plenty to go around.” He checked in his bag. “Well. Now I have four more to go around.”

“If you try to make me wear a hat -“

“- Cap -“

“- Whatever. If you try to make me wear a cap, or a hat, or anything on my head, when I’m having this good of a hair day, you’ve got another thing coming,” Haley said, true disgust in her eyes as she looked at the cap that Alex now offered her.

He put it back in his bag, only slightly crestfallen.

* * *

Lucie beamed and slide into the free seats behind Alex and Haley.

Shane faltered for a second, then sat down beside her.

“Yoba, these seats are small when you’re sharing them,” he muttered. It was true, the seats were tiny. It was impossible not to be touching shoulders, arms, hips, knees, everything, when you sat next to someone. Lucie turned her head, her hair brushing against Shane’s arm as she moved.

“You calling me fat?” She teased.

Shane looked at the woman next to him, glancing from her face to her waist. He could practically fit a hand around her waist if he tried to.

“Lucie. An elf would look like a giant in comparison to you.” He raised an eyebrow at her as she giggled. That was all the encouragement he needed. “No, seriously, you are so small I was concerned there was something wrong with you when we first met. Like, did your parents not feed you as a child? Did you live in a house with 4-foot-ceilings and so your growth was stumped?”

Lucie’s laughter only grew, and Shane could feel the movement of her ribs against his arm as she laughed. He grinned at her as she gained control of her laughter a little - just enough to say.

“Nah, I think it was all the weight-lifting I did as a 5 year old.”

Shane lifted her arm and placed his hand around her upper arm, thumb and forefinger almost touching.

The touch sent shivers down Lucie’s arm. The hairs on her arm raised and her breathing decided to stop working sub-consciously. Everything stopped working sub-consciously. She had to focus on keeping her heart beating, her lungs breathing and her eyes blinking as Shane snarked.

“Yes. Of course, you’re fucking massive, you.”


	18. Is Sharing Nachos An Innuendo I Don't Know About?

Shane kept to his word and explained to Lucie when she was meant to cheer. On the whole it was fairly obvious, but sometimes people seemed very excited by someone doing what looked like nothing.

She found it very hard to see where the ball was. Everyone was just running around all the time, moving constantly and doing nothing. Lucie tried to be enthusiastic, but, if she was honest, the thing she was watching was Shane. He was so interested in everything, and muttered to her a constant commentary without every removing his eyes from the game. She watched the way his eyes darted across the field, head still, but eyes fiercely intent. He leant forwards, elbows on his knees and hands moving from mouth to neck, to air, to Lucie’s arm, begging her to look at the game in front of her.

* * *

At half time, Lucie was ambushed by Alex. He’d been sat behind them by pure coincidence, and to the surprise of Lucie when he lurched between her and Shane’s heads. Later, she would claim that she merely yelped in surprise. ‘Yelped in surprise’ was as accurate as claiming the Royal Yacht was a dingy.

Alex roared with laughter, loving her brief terror, then, dialled it down to a grin.

“This is your first grid ball game ever, so you’re doing it properly,” he insisted. “So, nachos or pulled pork sandwich? Those are your only options, because everything else is shit.”

Lucie looked at Shane questioning, and he shrugged.

“Half time food is part of the experience, he’s right,” Shane said. “Nachos are an awful lot easier to eat.”

Lucie grinned.

“Nachos it is then,” she said to Alex. “Do you want me to come with?”

Alex patted her on the head.

“Nah, lil farming girl, I can carry nachos by myself,” he smirked. “Hey, Shane - you want anything?”

Lucie held in the surprise at Alex being civil to Shane. Shane covered his surprise less well. He stumbled over his words at first, then Alex cut across him and answered for him.

“I’ll just get a large nachos and you can share. And I’m insisting you both have beer, cause, you know, beer.”

* * *

Sharing nachos shouldn’t have felt like a big deal, but by Yoba, it felt more intimate than it ought to have done. Shane’s fingers grazed against Lucie’s more times that he could count, and each time he could have sworn he got a static shock. Her hand was so small under the absurdly large box, and half the time he went to scrape some salsa and nearly tipped the whole box on to the floor.   
They were gone too soon.

Shit, he didn’t eat all of them, did he? No. No, he definitely hadn’t because he could remember the way she tentatively nibbled at the crisps like some kind of critter. It had been adorable, and he’d let her eat far more of the nachos as a result.

Lucie had awkwardly moved over to a bin to get rid of the cardboard structure, and Shane had shamelessly watched her walk over, staring at her legs and butt. It was an excellent butt.   
She’d moved quickly, obviously trying not to block people’s view for too long, and so Shane had to turn back to the game much sooner than he wanted. By Yoba, if she’d caught him looking at her butt, Shane thought he’d probably die.

But, she didn’t notice him looking, and the game was getting interesting again. Or at least that’s what he told himself in order to focus on something that wasn’t just how attractive the woman next to him was.

He glanced sideways to see her looking fascinated at the pitch. Maybe she’d actually started to get to grips with what was happening. Damn, that’d mean he’d have less of an excuse to talk to her, to lean closer towards her, pressing his leg up against hers as she leant closer herself to hear over the roar of the crowds.

“Hey - don’t we win the game if we get this next goal?” She asked him, in a low tone, but not so low that she wasn’t audible. Shane hadn’t been paying attention, but now, looking up at the scoreboard, he saw she was right. They just needed one more goal and they’d win - for the first time all season. Fuck, that was a minor miracle in itself.

“Yeah. Yeah, we will -“ He cut off as the kid who’d been outshining every else all season seemed to gear up to toss the ball.

* * *

The whole stadium erupted. The sheer wall of noise seemed to ripple through Lucie as the ball passed over the line. She felt herself thrown to her feet - she must have stood, but it felt more like a force was pulling her upright than her deciding to stand. She felt the cheer whistle out her mouth.   
And she felt Shane beside her. He turned towards her and beamed, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her feet up off the floor. She whirled around in his arms, her feet flinging around like a little kid’s, and for the first time she was glad they were at the front of their section. Glad they had the small walkway in front of them so that they could move, they could hug.

* * *

Then he pulled away from her, and turned red. He walked away from her, walked to the end of the row and then faltered.

“I’m - I’m sorry. I got carried away there,” he paused and looked back at Lucie. “Maybe have had one too many.”

Lucie moved towards him, closing the gap. She looked up at him, paused and then said,

“You’ve only had the one beer. And I like you, dumbass, you don’t need to apologise for hugging me.”

* * *

Prime opportunity to kiss him… and she passed it up.

Fucking dumbass.

She cursed herself the whole way back to the bus. Then on the bus. Then as they got off the bus.

Everyone else left, slowly. Painfully slowly. But Shane stayed, and stood next to Lucie, occasionally looking like he was going to speak but then snapping his mouth shut again.

“I’m sorry-“ they began in unison. And stopped in unison. Lucie gestured for him to speak as he frowned.

“What are you apologising for?” He asked.

Oh. Fuck. Oh, fuck she was going to have to say the truth, wasn’t she? Anything else would be such an obvious lie, and now she was burning.

She laughed, a little awkwardly, and rubbed the back of her neck.

“I’m sorry for acting weird on the bus,” she said. Shane tried to interrupt but she held up a hand. “Please? I wasn’t being weird for the reason you think. I’ve…” she trailed off and swore lightly under her breath. “Fuck.”

“I mean, if you insist.”

Lucie’s eyes widened, she felt the flush creep from her chest up her neck. She laughed once more. Shane seemed almost as surprised as her that he’d said that. He rubbed the back of his neck once more.

“Sorry. And sorry about the hug-thing.” He looked away, glancing towards the grass path back into the town. “And sorry for this too.”

* * *

Then he kissed her.

And she melted.

* * *

His fingers tangled into her hair, tilting her head up towards his and cradling it in his palm. Her hair was so soft, feathery light against the back of his hand. He was lost in the sensation of her hair, her lips, her hands, lost in her kiss, lost in her.

Her fingers dug into his back, pulling him ever closer towards her. Her hips pushed up towards him and his mouth parted in a surprised gasp. Lucie felt the loss of his lips against hers like someone had taken her air. Her eyes didn’t quite want to open. Not yet. Maybe if they stayed closed he’d kiss her again.

“I should go home,” Shane whispered, pressing another kiss against her forehead. “Marnie’ll worry.”

Lucie let out a small whine. The noise wasn’t supposed to come out of her, but it did, and Shane kissed her once more.

“You should go,” Lucie echoed.

“I should.”

Neither of them moved.


	19. Queen-Sized Beds Fit Four People, Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feat, the campest 'yay' you'll ever hear from a straight guy

Shane was surprisingly upbeat at work the next day. It didn’t seem so bad when there was a Lucie just up the road from him, the memory of her lips still fresh.

The day past in a haze of stacking and daydreaming. Shane caught the disapproving look from Morris when he sat back on his ankles, but Morris be damned. Shane was doing his job, and doing it perfectly adequately, so if Morris wanted to object to it, then he could object to it.

* * *

He left at 4, more promptly than he’d ever left work in his life. Shane was moving swiftly out of the building and paused.

Lucie was sat on the bridge, fishing rod dangling down into the water. Her lips were moving as she stared into the water, but there was no one near her.

Shane debated whether to sneak around the long way and hope she didn’t notice, or to go say hi. They hadn’t really addressed what had happened last night when last night had happened, and how did you bring that up. The whole “I kissed you and then we kinda just awkwardly left, and I’d really like to date you properly” spiel made him feel like a 12 year old on a playground trying to tell his crush that he liked them. Shane was still 80% certain that Lucie had only told him she loved him that fateful night to stop him from rolling off the cliff. What if she hadn’t wanted to kiss him and had only done it to be polite?

Shane decided to just walk over the bridge, and if she saw him, she could talk to him. That was a good plan. The plan where it wasn’t his responsibility.

* * *

As he got closer, he realised she wasn’t talking to herself, but singing lowly under her breath. It sounded vaguely like a sea shanty, which was… a strange choice of genre. But, Shane supposed, she was fishing. If there was ever a time for sea shanties, it was while fishing.

She was clearly in her own little world, and Shane didn’t know if he was relived or not as he neared her, almost level with her and she still hadn’t noticed him. Her head swayed slightly as she mumbled the words to the song, eyes lightly closed.

“Afternoon,” she said, at a normal volume as Shane passed on to the town-side of her. He jumped, quite literally, as his feet left the ground. Lucie burst in a fit of hysterics as she turned to look at him, catching sight of his landing. Once she’d gathered her breath back, she swung her legs back over on to the correct side of the bridge and tried to look sternly at Shane, though the giggles that continued to burst from her did ruin the effect somewhat. “Were you trying to sneak past me, Shane?”

“No!” He protested. He glanced away and shoved his hands in his pockets. Lucie’s amused lifted of her eyebrow made him confess. “Maybe.”

She grinned, and slid off the wall, kneeling to pack away the fishing rod. She did it deftly, and the long rod had vanished in a matter of seconds.

“It is so cute how you think I wouldn’t notice.” She walked a few steps towards him, and then raised herself on to tiptoes to whisper in his ear.

* * *

Shane choked and turned into a bright red spluttering mess as she sauntered away, waving cheerily over her shoulder. Shane had just about regained his composure when he heard Lucie burst into even more laughter. At least she found herself funny. She came back and grinned at him.

“I’m sorry, that was mean. Hilarious, but mean,” she said. “Would this make up for it?”

She held out a small bag of cookies. They were clearly homemade cookies, all strange shaped and lumpy, but perfect.

“Do you just go around offering people stuff all the time?” Shane asked, not taking his hands out of his pockets so he didn’t have to take yet more of Lucie’s food. She frowned. Her shoulders fell almost imperceptibly as the bag lowered to by her side.

“Do you want me to stop?”

“No, no, no,” By Yoba, Shane why did you say that? Now look what you’ve done. “Just - is it just me you give stuff to all the time, or is that just something you do?”

She looked less put out, but now she wouldn’t look at him. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she answered quietly.

“Well, I give everyone stuff I think they’d like. But, you more frequently than most.” Her hands twisted around each other, her thumb running over the nails of her other hand. “I’ve always thought it was nice to get a gift. I like the idea that someone sees something and thinks ‘oh, Lucie will like that’, but that might just be me…”

She glanced up at Shane, and he pulled himself back inside the walls he’d built for himself. Lucie lifted the bag up slightly and held them out to him.

“Now, do you want the cookies or not?”

* * *

Lucie looked at the small list on her wall. Perhaps it was a touch psychotic to have lists of what gifts people liked. But the thought of getting rid of her list made her squirm - she’d spent so much time working out what each of her neighbours liked, so much time gauging reactions and writing it down and memorising it, that to get rid of it would be like studying for an exam to just, not sit the exam.

She didn’t want to waste all her effort. So, she compromised with herself, and pulled out a notebook. The sticky notes were transferred from wall to page, moved from semi-public to semi-private. Her fingers hovered over the sticky note titled ‘Guy From Bar \- Shane’. It was the only remaining note on the wall, and she didn’t want to hide it in some random notebook.

“Beer - don’t give beer. Recovery = good so far  
Pizza - frozen or homemade  
PEPPER POPPERS - Ask Marnie for recipe

Hot Peppers - Summer. 5-3”

The arrows pointing at pepper poppers couldn’t help but bring a smile to her face. She could remember the first time she’d given them to him as vividly as if she were doing it that moment. It had been the first time she’d seen him smile. It had also been the first time he’d used her name, whilst sober anyway. She didn’t count that night on the pier, when his little ‘See ya around, Lucie’ had made her heart beat in such a way that she knew she was doomed.   
But the pepper-popper-smile? It had been such a genuinely happy moment, sparked simply from Lucie trying to give away something she’d bought and regretted buying. She remembered how she’d gone home directly, claiming she was in a hurry to Haley when she’d called after her, and scribbled down the note enthusiastically.

The warmth in his smile was addictive. She’d wanted more - she’d wanted to drown herself in it, get lost and never try to find her way out again.

She stuck the sticky note in the notebook, and slowly closed it, pressing the cover firmly shut. Then, she placed it in the drawer, amongst a hairbrush, nail polish and a few of her favourite stones that she’d found down in the mines, and shut the drawer with a firm push of her hand.

* * *

Haley’s bed now held four people, and it was starting to get ridiculous.

It had been barely 7pm when Lucie had wandered into the house, unannounced and climbed into the bed.

“Talk. Please.” She’d said, crossing her legs under the covers and burying her face in her hands. Haley had only prodded her for reasoning once, before giving in and talking about her day. It had been a very boring day, but Lucie had demanded she talked, so she was talking.

Then, Emily had rocked up. Complaining about Haley’s inability to do housework, then stopped half way through and greeted Lucie.

“What’s happened?” She asked.

“Oh, nothing, just having an emotional breakdown,” Lucie had replied lightly.

“Why…?” Haley and Emily asked, one hesitantly, one much more eagerly. Lucie lifted her head and looked between the two of them.

“I psychoanalysed myself and now I think Shane only puts up with me because I give him stuff.” She answered.

“Well, that’s why I like you,” Haley answered. Emily looked at her and she lifted her hands. “I’m kidding!”

Lucie groaned and let her body flop back on to the pillows. She stared up at the ceiling and muttered.

“Honestly, that’d be fine with me because I’m not in love with you.”

Emily gasped dramatically and climbed into the bed too. She pushed Haley to the side slightly with her hip. Haley rolled her eyes, but did move over.

“Who are you in love with?”

“Oh, god, why is the whole town here to share in my pain?” Lucie wailed. Alex looked somewhere between uncomfortable and scared at the noise Lucie made. Haley looked across at him, and quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Alex, could you go to the cupboard by the fridge and get two bottles of wine?” She asked sweetly.

Lucie lifted her head from the pillow and looked at him.

“If you make it three bottle then you can stay.”

The ‘Yay’ that left Alex’s mouth was undignified and exceedingly feminine. The women didn’t wait for him to leave the room before bursting into laughter.


	20. Genuinely Considering Throwing This Cow Shit

“Letter for you, Shane!”

Marnie opened the door five seconds later, and placed the letter on top of Shane’s forehead. He grumbled in protest, but asked Marnie to turn on the light as she left. It was progress, of sorts. And she had noticed the lack of cans anywhere in his room - either he was becoming tidier when he drank, or he hadn’t drank at all the previous night.

The light burst its glow into the room violently, and Shane grunted as he blinked against the aggression. Brushing his hair out of his face, he peered at the letter.

It was written on pastel pink paper. Why on earth was Haley sending him a letter? She was the only one who’d buy pastel pink paper - except maybe Jas, but Jas didn’t have handwriting that neat.

He broke the seal and flicked the letter open.

‘Lucie really likes lilies. Pierre’s has some bouquets of pink lilies and red roses. She’d really appreciate them.’

“Fucking hell, Haley.”

* * *

Lucie blinked at the blonde woman before her. Her facial expression didn’t change as she walked over to pick up a shovel, no words passing her lips. Haley continued to grin at her. The shovel dragged across the floor as Lucie scraped up the cowpat.

“You did, what?” She asked, softly. Deadly. The screech of iron on stone sounded once more. Haley did not get the hint.

“Come on, he just needs a little nudge!” She chirped. “Don’t you want him to ask you out?”

Lucie looked down at the pile of still-steaming cowpat on her shovel, and tilted her head to the side.

“Haley. I am genuinely considering throwing this cow shit at you, do you _think_ I wanted this?” She put the shovel down, much to Haley’s immediate relief. Lucie pressed the back of her forearm to her head and sighed. “Look. Shane is currently at the bottom of a very deep well, and he is only just trying to climb up the very slimy, mossy covered bricks. The last thing he needs is a push.”

Haley frowned at her, leaning gingerly against the shed walls.

“Surely, giving him something to live for is a good thing?” She asked, her forehead a crinkle of confusion. Lucie scratched the space between her eyebrows and tried to think. Logic was hard when it was this tangled up with emotion.

“It’s…hard to explain,” Lucie began. “But, I, uh, I’m scared that if we become a thing whilst he’s trying to pull himself together, he won’t be able to separate the relationship from the recovery - I mean, by Yoba, how many shitty films are there where the guy and the girl get together and magically someone’s depression is fixed? That’s not how it works. Sure, having a good thing around all the time helps, but it’s not the end - and I’m worried that he’ll think that it is, and then if he has a bad day, he’ll go straight to the bottom of the well again, instead of just slithering back down a little.”

The words came out difficultly. Lucie didn’t look at Haley as she spoke, scared her voice would crack, or that the sharp prickling at her eyes would turn into full out tears. She didn’t look up until Haley grabbed her by the shoulders and wrenched her into a hug.

“Shane’s lucky to have someone like you in his corner,” she whispered in her ear. “But also - you don’t want to fuck this up by being too cautious, so I’m not apologising.”

“I didn’t expect an apology.”

“Good. I don’t do them. I’m usually right.”

“Except about chicken names. Diogenes’ is hilarious,” Lucie laughed as she spoke, pulling herself together a little bit more. Haley pulled away, still holding on to Lucie’s shoulders.

“Lucienne, I mean this from the bottom of my heart. Diogenes is not a good name for a chicken. ‘Man’ would have been a good name for a chicken.”

* * *

Shane felt like a moron.

Why did the stupid flowers have to be outside? Why - where everyone could see him looking at them?

He glanced at the piece of paper in his hand. Lilies. Which ones were lilies again? When he’d left the ranch he thought he’d known, but now he wasn’t sure. He knew what roses were at least, but roses were in practically every of these bloody - what did Haley call them? - bouquets. It was a pompous word if ever he’d seen one. Why did they all look the same? Haley said there was a red and white one that Lucie would like, but there were about eight different red and white ones - or was it red and pink?

“Can I help at all?” Pierre’s amusement was obvious in his voice, though he did keep his face neutral. Shane looked at him and let out a small noise, as though to clear his throat. Shane’s thoughts ran at a mile a minute, and Pierre shuffled behind the small wooden table to shuffle with the arrangement. Shane could barely tell the difference after he’d changed it. “If you’re worried about people talking, I can be very discreet.”

Shane shook his head slightly. An idea came to mind, and he looked up from the flower to the grocer.   
Pierre’s neutral expression slowly changed into a small smile as he nodded. He could indeed accommodate that request.

* * *

Shane brought home Lucie’s gift in a small bag, hiding it amongst frozen pizza and various canned drinks, none of which were beer.   
He placed the bag very carefully on the kitchen table, and lifted out its contents. The pizza was shoved into the large freezer, the cans into the fridge, the bunny-jewel slippers were hidden under table and finally the not-flowers were lifted out on to the table. He sat on the closest chair, and stared at the small tray, with three different cacti on it.   
Apparently one of them was a succulent, but it looked pretty cactus-like to Shane.   
He leant his elbows against the table and rested his chin on his folded hands. He stayed in that position, his face occasionally twitching, either into a frown, or his mouth shaping words as if trying to tell how they’d sound.

* * *

“Didn’t know you liked cacti,” Marnie said casually as she entered the kitchen, lifting her own bag on to the worktop in front of Shane. His eyes flicked up to her, then back to the cacti. “Lucie caught that cod I asked for, so fish pie for dinner?” Shane murmured his agreement. He sat back in his chair.

“They’re for her - Lucie, I mean,” He said, still looking at the cacti. Marnie turned around, one hand resting on the counter next to the fish. She raised an eyebrow at him. His face held the ghost of a smile as he said. “Bouquets didn’t seem very me. But a prickly cactus?”

Marnie smiled at him, her heart filling with a sadness that she couldn’t understand. She sat down in the chair opposite him and looked at her nephew as though he’d done something impressive. All he’d done was buy three cacti.

“You really care for Lucie, don’t you?” Marnie spoke softly. “You’ve seemed so much happier these past few weeks.”

Shane raised an eyebrow and scratched the back of his neck.

“That might also have something to do with the drinking sparkling water and not beer thing, too.” Marnie looked at him slightly sceptically. He relented. “But yeah. She makes - she makes me remember that I do have friends. And that it’s okay for me to rely on them, and relying on them doesn’t make me weak.”

Marnie smiled across at him, and placed a hand on his.

“I’m so happy for you,” she said, softly. Shane pulled his hand back, and looked away, but the smile crept on to his face nonetheless. Marnie beamed, and stood up, turning back to the fish pie that waited to be made.

“Is Jas in?” Shane asked, more to fill the silence than anything.

“Penny said she’d walked her home, so I hope so!” Marnie chuckled to herself. “Check her room.”

* * *

Jas was ecstatic to receive the real bunny-jewel slippers. She flung herself at Shane and wrapped her arms around his neck, causing him to stumble, but not quite fall.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She squealed. Shane lifted her down from round his neck and dismissed the thanks with a small shrug.

“It’s a gift from your citizens, thanking you for your wise rule all this year.” He bowed low, and Jas curtsied back, grinning from ear to ear. Then she frowned.

“But,” she began, her little face scrunched in confusion. “But these are so expensive! How did you afford them?”

Shane scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, before shoving his hands into his pockets.

“I cut back on an expensive habit.” Was the only answer he gave. “So, now I have more spending money to spoil you with. Anyway, how do you know how much the slippers were?”

Jas grinned up at him.

“I was saving up for them! But now I don’t have to!” She chirped. “I can buy so many ice-creams for me and Vincent now!”

Shane thought it best not to damp her mood by stopping her from buying out an ice-cream truck the next time she had the chance to, and simply messed up her hair before walking back into the kitchen.

* * *

Lucie just wanted to go into her house and have a shower, to get rid of all the animal filth that covered her, but Haley was feeling chatty. She debated physically moving Haley out the way as she continued to chat, literally blocking the entire doorway to the chicken coop.

Between her rambles about Emily demanding she clean under the couch cushions, and how unfair it was, and Diogenes’ screaming and pecking at her feet, Lucie was about ready to burst.

* * *

Haley had been leaving the chicken coop, having run dry of things to chat to Lucie about, and ready to go home to Emily’s bitching about cleanliness or whatever, when she’d seen Shane sneaking up the path. He’d met her gaze and had glanced at the chicken coop with such panic, that Haley had whirled around on the spot, and declared,

“You know, Lucie, I don’t think Emily is fair in saying that I have to clean these cushions - she makes all the mess!”   
Lucie had pinched the bridge of her nose at that, shutting her eyes just long enough for Haley to wink at Shane, mouthing ‘I got ya’.

* * *

Shane didn’t think he’d ever say this again, but thank Yoba for Haley. Why she’d decided to help him out, he’d never know, but here they were, and here he was placing a wooden tray of cacti on Lucie’s bed, and a small folded note next to them.

He snuck out as quickly as he’d entered the house, and made a mental note to thank Haley properly tomorrow. Had he accidentally become friends with the girl he’d called ‘a soulless bimbo’ less than three months prior? Perhaps he ought to give people more credit.

* * *

There were cacti on her bed.

This day had gone from dredging up the past, to literal shit, to frustrating, to just plain weird. Why the hell were there cacti on her bed? At least the box they were in was cool, all faded varnish and scuff marks. It was very…farmhouse rustic. Whoever had decided to put _cacti on her bed_ wasn’t getting back the box-tray-tray. Hers now. It’d look great in the kitchen when she finally got around to paying Robin to build it.

Lucie didn’t sit on the bed, no matter how much she wanted to, but she did pick up the note attached to it. Her curiosity was stronger than her desire to go shower off all the muck that coated her skin, her hair, her nails. By Yoba, her nails were disgusting.   
She checked quickly that she hadn’t left muddy marks on the paper, and was glad that she hadn’t when she opened it, recognising the handwriting immediately.

Shane had only once sent her a letter, it was only to give her the recipe for pizza, but she’d kept it in the notebook with everyone’s favourite gifts written on post-its. She knew the handwriting like she knew her own heartbeat. It seemed to pulse through her.

* * *

Lucie didn’t breathe.

Her lip trembled despite her will. Her cheeks were wet. She swiped her cheeks furiously and looked back at the letter, memorising every detail. The words were etched into her mind, but she wanted to remember the way he’d looped his ‘y’s, the way that his ‘t’s bled into his ‘h’s. She wanted to know every inch of the letter in her mind as well as in her soul.   
She wanted to go to Shane.

* * *

She made it half way to the door before she caught herself. She was quite literally covered in goat, cow and chicken shit. Shower first.

Lucie sniffed tentatively - oh Yoba, shower first. Definitely shower first.


	21. The Letter

_Lucie,_

_“I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope.”_

_Wentworth is so much better with words than I am, and I know I’d fuck it up if I tried to say it. Have these prickly little plants and think of your prickly neighbour._

_No one has ever pierced my soul quite like you._

_Yours, whole heartedly and endlessly yours,_

_Shane x_


	22. But then you said words

Shane opened the front door. The pounding had been somewhat frantic, and Marnie had called for someone else to get it.

Which seemed suspicious for a woman he knew to just be in her room doing nothing, but he didn’t think about it at the time. At that time, he was only thinking about how stupid that letter he’d written had been. Thinking how stupid the whole thing had been.

* * *

Lucie stood outside the door, half out of breath.

The door opened and she lost her breath completely. Shane stood in front of her, looking as surprised as she felt - though why she felt shocked she didn’t know. She came here to see him, to the place where he lived, so why would she be surprised that he opened the door?

* * *

She should say something.

* * *

He should say something.

What were you supposed to say when someone knocked on your door and then just stared at you?

Oh, fuck, she held the letter in her hand.

* * *

“You read _Persuasion_?” Lucie asked. Her heart was in her mouth, and she felt her stomachquiver with each breath she took. “When have you read any Austen?”

Shane rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

“You said it was your favourite book.” He shrugged. “I read it before we went to the grid ball game.”

“You read _Persuasion_ because of me?” She frowned. Shane chuckled awkwardly and looked at her.

“That’s what you took from the letter? That I read a book?” He said incredulously. He shook his head slightly. Lucie slapped him on the chest, the letter slapping against his t-shirt in the quiet night.

“Oh, shut up. Anyone can buy a bouquet, but you bought me cacti and quoted my favourite book at me. That’s…” Lucie ran out of words. She slowly smiled to herself. “I don’t have the words - can I just kiss you instead?” She laughed, lifting a hand to her mouth and then moving it to back of her neck, then back to her cheek. Words, actions, it all meant nothing. Everything meant nothing.

Shane knew her, inside and out, and he decided to pick her anyway.

* * *

His hands moved to her waist, pulling her close to him, so close she could feel his heart as though it were her own, both pumping a little maniacally. His hands practically dwarfed her back, spreading across the whole width of it. She reached up and pulled his head towards hers, tangling her fingers in the soft, short strands.

She kissed him hungrily, and he returned the enthusiasm.

* * *

Lucie was barely aware of them moving, but at some point they’d moved from the door to into Shane’s room. Now her back was pressed against the door, straining upwards to kiss him still. She felt the slight press of his tongue against her lips, and she parted them, as if in a moan. Her hand still grabbed at his hair, pulling his face endlessly towards hers. His hands never stayed still on her body, roaming from hips, to waist, to back, to shoulders and back. It was as though he couldn’t get enough of her. Now, they were kissing there was no ending it.

* * *

When they finally pulled apart, Lucie didn’t want to open her eyes. Her head stayed tilted up for a moment, lingering in the memory that had so recently been experience.

Shane watched her slowly, grudgingly open her eyes, and pressed a light kiss on to her forehead.

“Why did you stop?” She moaned, her voice barely audible. Shane lent down and kissed her cheek. She murmured her delight, his ear so close to her mouth that he felt her breath tickle the hairs that sat just above. He pressed his next kiss into her neck. The soft noise grew louder. He stowed away that little tidbit of information of a later day.

“Because,” he murmured, moving his head to the other side, and kissing her neck once more. “If I didn’t stop then, I don’t think I’d stop at all. And Marnie and Jas are upstairs.”

Lucie opened her eyes and drew his lips back to hers for a disappointingly brief kiss.

“You make an excellent argument.” She drew her arms up and placed them around his neck, clinging on to him. For the first time, she was conscious of something solid pressing into her hip and felt the flush spread across her cheeks as she realised what it was. Lucie deliberately, and difficultly, dragged her focus away from the erection she could feel pressed against her, and instead concentrated heavily on Shane’s hair. She hadn’t expected it to be this soft. It was light, almost feathery. A thought popped into her mind and she couldn’t help the giggle that burst out of her, rising in small pockets like bubbles of air lifting towards an ocean, breaking as they met the waves.

She pressed her face further into Shane’s neck, trying, desperately to stifle them, but the bubbles had to break, and the attempt only made her laugh harder. Shane pulled her away from him.

“By Yoba, Lucie, I couldn’t tell if you were laughing or crying there,” he said, the relief etched into his face. “What is it?”

She pressed a hand to her mouth, and struggled to squash the giggles.

“It’s not even -“ another giggle erupted. “Fuck, it’s not that funny. Just,” her shoulders bounced as she pressed her lips together, then squeezed her eyes shut, forcing herself to take a deep, controlling breath. “Just. Your hair reminded me of my chicken - and Diogenes springing to mind in this moment is so something that fucker would plan.”

Shane frowned. He took half a step back and scrutinised her face.

“That’s the weirdest thing you’ve said.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, awkwardly shuffling his weight between his feet. The next words came out his mouth faster than he expected. “-Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re not fucking with me, are you?”

Lucie’s giggles died on her lips. She looked up at Shane, not sure if she ought to be hurt or not.

“Of course not,” she said. Shane looked at her for a long moment, taking in the softening in her eyes, the slight furrow of her brow. Watched her gaze hold his, not wavering for a moment. “Shane. It was just a stupid thought.”

“Sorry,” he finally muttered, dropping his gaze to the ground. “It just sounded like, I don’t know, like -“

“- like I was laughing at you, and had to think of an excuse off the top of my head?” Lucie supplied when words failed him. Shane didn’t answer, which was answer enough.   
Lucie closed the distance between the two of them, and placed a hand on his cheek.

“Look at me,” she whispered, running her thumb along stubble-free section of his cheek. “Shane, look at me.” He dragged his gaze to hers. Her gaze was so intense, so fierce that he glanced away almost as soon as he looked at her. But her call to look at her sounded once more, and he forced himself back to her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he started.

“Don’t you dare,” Lucie talked over his apology with a voice stronger than he’d heard from her. “try to apologise. I’m only saying this so you can’t convince yourself otherwise - I want to be with you. On your good days and your bad days, and every moment of everyday. I’d pick you every time. I - fuck it, - I love you, and I want my goddamn time with you. So, don’t convince yourself that I’m messing with you. Because I can deal with you not feeling the same, but I can’t cope with you pushing me away for such a stupid reason.”

Shane shut her up by kissing her. Normally Lucie hated that kind of thing, but she’d let it slide just this once.

* * *

His fingers grazed her neck, and she pulled back once more.

“Wasn’t I leaving?”

“Uh huh,” Shane murmured against her mouth. “But then you said words.”

* * *

It was over an hour before they both managed to gather the resolve to leave.   
Shane did compromise with her by walking her home, and promising to come back to his own bedroom. Alone.

* * *

The evening was light and airy. The stars spread across the sky like a careless child had splattered paint with a flick of their hand. It was strange to think that these tiny pinpricks of light had travelled across the universe, just to look down on two humans walking across fields.

Their hands swung together, almost in unison, fingers lightly brushing each other. Neither gathered the courage to talk the other’s hand in theirs, so they were just left with the brief brushes of skin against skin. It was enough.

This moment was enough. The warm breeze blew past them, the soft noises of the woodlands comforting, not ominous. It was quiet, but not silent, as though the world had hushed just for them, as though it had turned away to leave them in their quiet togetherness.

* * *

Shane couldn’t let go of something Lucie had said. _I want my time with you_.   
He glanced down at her, and she turned to him, as though she’d heard him think it. The smile that lifted her eyes warmed his heart, and Shane gathered the courage to take her hand in his. Her smile grew, and she squeezed his fingers lightly.

* * *

The smile lingered on both their faces until they fell asleep that night, regrettably in separate beds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plz note that 'I want my time with you' is straight up stolen from an art installation I saw in Kings Cross last year some time. It was cool. Very pink and luminous. I've forgotten the artist's name (sorry!)


	23. Admiral Fluffball Commits High Treason

Shane and Lucie decided to keep their blossoming relationship a secret. Shane didn’t really want to become the focus of the whole town, and Lucie was happy for it to stay lowkey for now. After all, the last thing she wanted was for someone to decide to write to her dad to catch up, and tell him before she did.

* * *

Marnie was less convinced that keeping a relationship secret was a healthy thing.   
Lucie tried not to point out where she’d found Mayor Lewis’ “shorts” that one time, and Shane merely spluttered his indignant protests at her. It took a bribe of a pumpkin pie and promising to give her any of her good produce for the upcoming fair. Really, the only thing that was being handed over as a bribe was the pumpkin pie - Marnie’s cows produced more milk at a higher quality than Euripides and Sophocles ever had.

Shane was still not impressed, having caught the Mayor sneaking out more than once. Once Lucie had left, he pointed this out to Marnie and raised an eyebrow at her, unimpressed.

“Well. I still think secrecy is a bad plan.” Was all Marnie could think to retort back at him.

“Pot, meet Kettle,” muttered Shane, trying very hard not to feel like a scolded teenager. “It’s just for a little bit, okay?”

Marnie opened her mouth to say something, but Jas took that moment to come skipping into the kitchen, carrying a small bunny with her. She headed towards the door tucked away at the back of the kitchen, not pausing when Shane called after her, asking what she was up to.

“Admiral Fluffball has committed high treason. It’s time for his execution.”

Shane and Marnie exchanged glances. Jas started humming the Chopin’s funeral march as the door started to swing shut behind her. A silence passed, then Shane opened his mouth. He shut it again with an audible snap.

“Is that… normal?” He finally asked. Marnie peered at the door, which was now firmly shut, as if she were trying to stare through the wood. As if she was trying to see how Jas was planning on executing Admiral Fluffball.

The door opened once more, and Jas reappeared, Admiral Fluffball intact in her hand.

“You’ve been pardoned this once, Admiral Fluffball, but you must go into exile from this day forth,” Jas said, solemnly, looking the limp, faded pink bunny. Then, she turned to the two bemused adults and grinned at them. “Is it lunch soon? I’m a little hungry.”

* * *

Shane entered the Stardrop that evening with the sole intention of finding Lucie and telling her about Jas’ not-quite-execution. He wasn’t quite sure when she’d become the only person he’d ever wanted to tell about his day - hell, he wasn’t sure when he started caring about his day - but it made him feel like his heart was glowing. He looked forward to things in a way that he didn’t use to. Things other than grid ball games and when he could next drink.

He scanned the room for the dark-haired woman, and came up empty. Shovelling the disappointment under his hunger, he made his way to the bar and ordered a pizza from Gus. Which did mean that he had to sit at a table instead of leaning against the back wall in his usual way, and so he grudgingly sat at the table furthest from the door. Hopefully, none of the over-friendly people in the saloon would notice him and take a seat with him.

* * *

Luck wasn’t on his side as Sam moved towards him and gestured at one of the empty seats.

“Mind if I join until Abigail gets here?” He asked, looking as though he expected Shane to start breathing fire. The JoJo Cola in his hand was clutched close to his chest, the tips of his fingers white.

“Whatever,” Shane answered with a shrug.

Silence passed. A very deeply uncomfortable silence.

The kind of silence where you could mistake yourself swallowing for a gunshot, then be disappointed that there was no gun.

“Pizza?” Shane shoved the plate slightly towards Sam, not quite looking at him as he grunted the offer. Sam looked between the pizza and the man across from him suspiciously, then took a slice with the manliest ‘cheers’ he could manage. The silence fell for a moment, then Sam asked through a mouthful of pizza if Shane was working tomorrow, and they found something to talk about; how much they wanted to watch Morris slip on a wet floor and land on his arse. Or anything that would wipe his smug little smile off his face.

* * *

Lucie was hauled to the side the second she entered, a hand grasping her around the arm and yanking, hard. Lucie turned to look at Abigail, the reproach in her eyes as she rubbed the now-released arm.

“Ow.” The ow was more for emphasis than because of the pain, but it _did_ hurt. Abigail had managed to grab hold of the bruise she’d gotten from trying to help Diogenes get untangled from a fence. She was never helping that goddamn, stupid chicken ever again.

Abigail shushed her and nodded towards a table in the corner.

“You broke Shane,” she hissed. Lucie tutted and shook her head. Abigail nodded her head towards the table once more, urging Lucie to look. She did, but made sure Abigail saw the roll of her eyes first. “He is talking to someone that isn’t Gus. And smiling. And he’s not even wasted - what did you do?”

For some reason, Abigail’s surprise rubbed Lucie up the wrong way. She crossed her arms and turned to look at the younger woman, disdain filling her voice.

“I was nice to someone clearly having a shitty time. Did none of you think that maybe he could do with a friend?” She snapped.

Abigail’s eyes widened as Lucie spun on her heel and stalked over to Shane’s table, her boots resounding on the stone floor in a satisfyingly stroppy manner.

* * *

“Sam, Abigail’s over there if you were waiting for her,” Lucie said as she sat, uninvited, and stole a slice of pizza. “If you weren’t, she’s still over there. Her existence isn’t conditional on you waiting for her.”

Shane frowned at Lucie, who shoved more pizza into her mouth than he thought humanly possible and chewed with surprisingly little difficulty. Sam looked between the two of them and picked up his JoJo Cola.

“I’ll…go, see Abigail, I mean,” he said. He paused before he walked away, turning back to add, “Thanks for the pizza, Shane! See you at work tomorrow.”

Shane lifted a hand in a half-hearted wave. He waited until Sam had moved far enough away that Shane was certain he wouldn’t be heard, then turned to Lucie.

“What?” He asked.

“What do you ‘what’?” Lucie snapped. Then, hearing her own words, “Oh. That’s what.” She gestured at her own face. Shane nodded slowly, mouthing the word ‘yes’ as he looked quizzically at her.

“Also, you stole some of my pizza. That’s fairly atypical for the girl who gets ‘gift-giving guilt’,” He added. Lucie looked at him with a blank expression, then reached forwards towards the plate.

“Just for that, I’m taking another slice.” Shane didn’t bother to try to stop her, as though he knew, there was no way that he could get between Lucie and her food. No wonder he loved her.

* * *

Oh. Love - well, no time to dwell on that, he thought rapidly, back to the problem at hand.

* * *

“So. What is up with you?” He repeated.

“Abigail said something stupid and it made me irrationally angry.”

“What did she say?”

Lucie looked sheepish, and then took a bite of pizza, deliberately filling her mouth in a not-so-subtle way of delaying her answer. Shane crossed his arms and looked at her. She took a second bite of pizza, meeting his gaze levelly. She didn’t need to speak for Shane to hear her ‘I’m not saying a thing’ as clear as day.

He caved, and changed the subject, much to Lucie’s relief.

“So, Jas did something weird today,” he began, trying not to grin at the bizarreness of the young girl’s behaviour. Lucie dared to look slightly intrigued. “She tried a fluffy pink rabbit for treason.”

Lucie gasped and placed her hand over her mouth.

“Admiral Fluffball? I knew it would be him, the slimy little villain.”

“How did you know it was Admiral Fluffball? Why - what. Lucie, how??”

Lucie grinned at Shane’s spluttering, her earlier irritation all but forgotten. She placed a hand on his.

“Jas implements tax reforms for her chickens. Executing bunnies for high treason is the more normal thing.” She raised an eyebrow at Shane’s still puzzled face and resisted the urge to kiss him. “I made my toys wage war on each other. Trust me, Jas is just like every girl I’ve ever known.”


	24. There's meeting the parents. Then there's this.

Marnie woke and headed downstairs. Her mind ran through all of the hundreds of different things she needed to do before the fair began, beginning first with breakfast.

She had her frankly enormous cheese wheel sat in the basement, all ready to be wheeled over. Her cloth was woven, dyed and dried. There were seven rolls, each dyed a different colour of the rainbow - she’d planned to arrange them in a curve, but they didn’t seem long enough, perhaps she’d have to make do with a stripe. It wouldn’t look as good, but surely Lewis would still appreciate the attempt.   
Although, even if she did have an objective better stall than Pierre, Marnie was pretty sure Lewis would pick his, trying to avoid favouritism. And Pierre always had stupidly large veg in his stall, whilst apparently not growing anything all year. It was the one time of the year when Marnie resented her relationship with Lewis a little - she loved the man, but by Yoba, his insistence on keeping this relationship a secret wore her down.

“Shane!” The shout was more to distract her thoughts than to summon the man. “Breakfast!”

* * *

Five minutes passed and Shane still hadn’t appeared. Marnie needed someone to talk about anything other than the latest bunny-jewel dress. Or Mayor Lewis. And Shane would witter on about Lucie or talk to Jas instead of Marnie, and she’d be able to let her mind relax.

Marnie stood, striding over to the door and banged on it. Loudly.

The door hadn’t been shut properly, and the latch gave way as her fist collided with wood. The creak of the hinges seemed to last an age as it swung open, moving quickly enough to slam into the wall behind the door, breaking a hole in the plaster. Marnie winced, then peered into the dark room.

The empty dark room.

* * *

The last time Shane hadn’t come home had been when Lucie appeared on her doorstep at 5 in the morning, saying he was out cold but going to be fine. But there had been no Lucie to reassure her this morning. No Shane, no Lucie, no reason for Marnie’s mind not to immediately leap to the worst possible conclusion.

* * *

Lucie had allowed herself a lie in. All the way to 7:30.

That used to be the time she’d wake to go to work, complaining about the early morning and yawning her whole way to work. But not this morning. She woke 15 minutes before her alarm was due to sound, and lay in bed, enjoying the warmth of her covers. She’d have to get up soon, go feed the demon and her other animals, go water the crops, then head over to the town with her stuff for the grange.   
It wasn’t an impressive collection, but it was only her first year in the valley, so she’d take anyone to task that mocked her small collection of potatoes, turnips, garlic and tulips. She was proud of them.

* * *

She was glad she was already awake when some ham-fisted heathen banged on her door. If that had been her wake up call, she would have been so grumpy, but as it was, she was determined to be cheerful and upbeat. No visitor at stupid-o-clock in the morning would spoil her mood. It wouldn’t.

“Oh, Marnie,” She said, opening the door and suddenly feeling very embarrassed by her pyjamas. They weren’t that bad. Just short. Shit, the t-shirt was longer than the shorts, that was not a good start.   
Marnie didn’t seem to have noticed.

“Shane didn’t come home last night,” Marnie began, her words coming out quickly. “Can you help me find him? Please, Yoba, I’m sorry but-“ She cut off as Lucie flushed slightly, and opened the door a little wider.

Shane was asleep on her couch, a small trickle of drool clear on his cheek. An arm draped towards the floor and he mumbled something in the depths of his sleep.   
Lucie stepped back in front of Marnie, rubbing her upper arm and making a face that wasn’t quite a smile and wasn’t quite a grimace. It was sheepish, and embarrassed, and slightly pinker.

“He fell asleep whilst we were watching a film and I didn’t have the heart to wake him.”

Marnie sighed and leant against the wall of Lucie’s house.

“You could have told me.”

“How?” Lucie protested. “My phone hasn’t had signal since I got here, and I don’t have a computer.”

Marnie raised an eyebrow at her.

“I live a five minute walk away. You have no excuse.”

“What if he woke and I’d just vanished? That’s pretty rude if you ask me.” Lucie’s defence sounded lame to her own ears. Marnie crossed her arms and looked at the young woman like an exasperated mother.

“It’s worse to let me think my nephew had killed himself!” She snapped. Then, with a visible effort, she sighed and turned. “I’m glad he’s alright - but next time the two of you have a little sleepover, do an old woman a favour and tell me?”

Lucie snorted.

“Old Woman my arse - you’re like in your late 30s, Marnie,” Lucie muttered. Marnie frowned at her and then let a small laugh escape her. Now Lucie looked puzzled.

“Lucie. I’m 54.” Marnie pressed a hand to her mouth then shook her head. “I’ll forgive you for not telling me Shane was here, but that’s only because you are terrible at guessing ages.”

Lucie scratched the back of her neck, internally cringing at herself, as Marnie walked down the path.

“Well - 54 still isn’t old, so whatever,” She called after Marnie.

* * *

Shane was still asleep when Lucie came back from gathering her various food-stuffs together for the fair. He woke as she hummed to herself, trying, and failing, to plait her hair in the two braids that Haley had done for her. God, that sort-of-date at the Stardrop seemed to be eons ago now.

He stretched on the couch, peering around the room confused for a few moments, then his brain woke enough for him to remember where he was. He smiled as he realised the noise he could hear was Lucie lowly murmuring a slow song to herself. Leaning back against the couch cushions, he let himself relax, savouring this quiet moment in the morning glow.

Lucie emerged from the bathroom, and noticed Shane, sat up and looking at her.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” she teased. Shane smiled lazily at her.

“Your braids are lopsided.”

Lucie slapped him with the back of her hand, and shoved his feet off her couch so she could sit.

“Your brain is lopsided,” she retorted, sticking her tongue out at him. The laugh rumbled in Shane’s chest, low and tangible. “Haley made it look so easy, but I’m terrible with hair and make-uppy things.”

Shane looked at her, or rather, inspected the hair, and then offered to fix it.

“I had to learn how to do hair things 'cause of Jas.” Was the explanation offered. Lucie didn’t object.

* * *

His fingers were gentle in her hair. They held small bundles with such delicacy, lightly pulling the braid tight, unlike Haley who had yanked the hair into place and then moaned when Lucie objected. This was tender, almost affectionate.   
It felt wrong to talk whilst he did it. There was almost a ritualistic feel to the parting of hair, and twisting and turning of strands between his fingers. Lucie felt like a priestess being prepared for a sacred ritual, not a woman being out-done in the ways of hair by her boyfriend. Or not boyfriend. Her…Shane. Whatever he was. If they weren’t going public with this whole thing, Lucie didn’t know if she was allowed to think of Shane as her boyfriend.

He snapped the small band in place, securing her hair firmly as a knock sounded on the door, breaking the moment back to reality.

Lucie awkwardly shuffled upright, away from where she’d sat at Shane’s feet.

“Who is it?” She called, hoping to Yoba and any other gods that might hear her prayer that she sounded normal. As she moved she caught sight of the letter of her desk. The letter she’d received over a week ago. Her eyes grew wide and she spluttered as a dry voice answered:

“Who do you think? It’s the person you invited here.”

Lucie’s eyes were wide as she yanked Shane upright and shoved him towards the bathroom.

“It’s my dad,” she hissed. “Just…go in there. Don’t say anything.”

“Are you going to let me in?” Her dad called from the other side of the door.

Shane and Lucie had a silent argument, filled with gestures, mouthed words and widened eyes. No words were really needed to convey ‘hide in the bathroom’ and ‘I don’t want to hide in the bathroom!’

“Lucienne.” Oh, she really was in trouble. “You have windows. I can see you trying to shove that poor man into your bathroom.”

Lucie burned as she turned to face the window. She lifted a hand to wave to the man outside the window, barely moving it, barely breathing.

“Hi, Dad,” she winced. “Meet Shane.”


	25. Jacques of All Annoyances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey... I'm sorry this is much later than usual. Had the joys of an exam the last two days :) 
> 
> Also if anyone ever has an idea for a better chapter title, please dear god put me out of my misery and share it

The Stardew Valley Fair had gotten real awkward, real quick, and it hadn’t even started yet.   
Shane had to do a walk of shame past Lucie’s dad - who was not only the tallest man he’d ever seen, but also possibly the most muscular man he’d ever seen.   
Then, to make things even worse, Marnie lay into him about not warning her that he’d be out all night, and then for being back so late that they now had to rush to the Fair. And Jas asked where he’d been and Shane didn’t have an answer he’d be happy for Jas to hear, let alone to share with Vincent, and, therefore, Penny. Honestly, saying passed on drunk on a clifftop was preferable.

But he didn’t give any answer, and merely asked after Admiral Fluffball’s trial. Thank Yoba that distracted Jas enough to forget about where he had been.

* * *

Lucie and her dad were slow to arrive at the Fair. Shane watched as Lucie took the potatoes from her dad’s arms and arranged them neatly in a small stack. She tinkered with the display with a deftness that reminded him of a pianist he’d seen once on TV, talking all the while with her father in a low voice. Her usual smile wasn’t plastered on her face, but the joy was obvious in the way her eyes crinkled and danced. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, talking to the potatoes more than to her father, who would reach down on to the display and move whichever potato Lucie had just arranged neatly.   
It felt strange to watch.   
It was the kind of family interactions that Shane had never really experienced. It wasn’t that his own parents had been cold, just, they held their distance. Marnie was the most affectionate person he’d known, and technically she wasn’t a blood relation, being the wife of a long-dead uncle.

* * *

Lucie smacked her father’s hand away for the last time.

“Would you stop it?” She tried to hold the amusement from her voice, but failed. Her dad finally grinned at her, the crinkling of his cheeks a mirror of Lucie’s own dimples. “You’re more work than a toddler.”

“Ah, you’ve missed me really,” her dad teased. “Speaking of people who’ve undoubtably missed me - is Lewis still around and kicking? I want to say hello to the old coot.”

Lucie rolled her eyes for the fifth time in as many minutes.

“Play nice, dad, I’ve spent a lot of time getting these people to like me, don’t ruin it.” She nodded over to the small stall to their left. “Lewis is over there. Please - please don’t call him an old coot to his face.”

“What about old bastard?”

“That’s… that’s worse. You do see how that’s worse, don’t you?” Lucie groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. When she glanced back towards her dad, he’d already moved away. His greeting to Lewis was booming, filling the whole square.

“Lewis! You’re still alive!”

“Jacques.” Lewis’ voice fell slightly flat as he turned to look at the bear-like man that approached him. Lucie mouthed an apology to Lewis when he caught her eye. “I can’t say how much we’ve missed you.”

“Liar.” Jacques enveloped the mayor in a suitably bear-like hug, lifting the older man off the ground.

* * *

The judging of the granges passed with Pierre winning, to the surprise of no one. His pumpkins were frankly enormous. Lucie had to elbow her dad hard in the ribs when he sucked in a breath to object. Shane choked on his laugh at seeing her ram her elbow into his torso, and his utter lack of a reaction. She’d put so much effort into her dig and he hadn’t even let a flicker of a wince drift across his face.   
Unfortunately, the snort of laughter from Shane drew Jacques’ attention and as soon as Lewis was done talking, the man strode over to Shane.

He was going to die. Just as he was starting to want to live - oh hey. That was the inverse of his usual joke, that was a good sign right? Yoba, Lucie’s dad was tall.

“Marnie!” Jacques grinned, turning at the last minute to look at the woman next to Shane. He let out a small breath of relief as Lucie followed after her father, shaking her head incredulously. She smiled at Shane as her father filled Marnie in on every detail of his life to date.

“Hey.” It was a smile full of warmth and happiness, and it had such a horrible consequence.

“And you must be Shane,” Jacques said, turning to look at him.

“Must I?”

“Witty.”

“I try. According to your daughter I normally fail.” Shane’s words might have been coming out calm and evenly, but his heartbeat was not. It faltered and skipped and forgot to beat altogether before rapidly punching itself into a senseless rhythm.   
Jacques raised an eyebrow at Lucie.

“He does try,” she said. “He’s not as trying as you - would you stop looking at him like that?”

“Like what?” Jacques faux innocence was apparently hilarious to Jas who burst into giggles. “Can’t I ask your boyfriend some simple questions?”

“Not my boyfriend,” Lucie corrected. Marnie choked on her ale. Both Lucie and Shane shot her a look, with Lucie repeating her denial emphatically. Jacques glanced between the three adults, then turned to Jas.

“What do you think, oh wise Princess?” He asked. Jas’s head snapped up. “Are Shane and Lucie dating?” Jas grinned widely, and looked up at Shane who shook his head almost imperceptibly. She glanced at Lucie who merely shrugged at her.

“Yep!” She chirped. Lucie gasped dramatically at her.

“Traitor! And after all I did for you with Admiral Fluffball!” She sighed dramatically, pressing a hand to her chest and turning away. Jas giggled and darted off, sending Lucie running after her.

* * *

Shane tried very hard not to yell after her, begging her not to leave him alone with Jacques.

* * *

A hand clamped down on his shoulder, and Shane turned ever-so-slowly to look up at Jacques.

“Fancy a burger? It’s on me,” Jacques offered, his voice less booming than before. Shane swallowed and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“I get the feeling that I don’t have much of a choice,” he answered. Jacques laughed loudly, throwing his head back. So that was where Lucie got that from.

“You have a choice about the burger,” Jacques lightly moved Shane around by the shoulder. “Less of a choice about the chat we’re going to have.”

* * *

Said chat was a lot less terrifying that Shane expected. He wasn’t berated about ‘his intentions’, threatened if he ever hurt Lucie, or any of that. Turns out, Jacques just liked to fuck with people, and simply cared about getting to know the person Lucie had mentioned in her letters home.

“Lucienne cares about you a great deal,” Jacques had said as they sat down on the bench.

“The feeling is mutual, sir.”

Jacques had scrunched up his nose - Yoba, Lucie really had inherited all of his mannerisms. It was freaky.

“Don’t call me sir. Makes me feel like I should behave like an adult.” Jacques shuddered. His eyes followed Lucie around the square, where she caught Jas and lifted her up, swinging her around. “This is the happiest I’ve seen her in a long time, and I believe I have you to thank for that.”

“Me?” Now, that was a surprise. As far as Shane could remember, Lucie had always been smiling at people, giving small gifts. Talking to him even when he was being particularly unpleasant. “I think you must be mistaken, s-“ He caught himself. Jacques turned to him and shook his head.

“She’s a good actor, my daughter. But she wrote an awful lot more before she met you,” he explained. “She doesn’t like to worry me, but she’s my little girl. I always know when she’s down - she gives people gifts when she’s upset.” Jacques gave a wry smile at that, a memory floating in the back of his mind.

Shane didn’t really know what he was supposed to say to that. Luckily, Jacques shook himself out of his reminiscing haze quickly.

“So, Shane, what brought you to the Valley?”

Oh fuck.


	26. It is a truth universally acknowledged that sometimes you just need to throw a strop in a forest in the middle of the night

They all ate at the Stardrop, pushing two tables together to accommodate the five adults. Jas had been sent to stay with Vincent, Marnie only having to beg a little before Jodi caved. Shane was relived that Jas wasn’t there to spill all of his secrets, after she’d told Jacques that she’d once managed to convince him to wear a tiara. Jacques was so, so very disappointed that his little well of knowledge had vanished.

Lewis was simply disappointed he hadn’t managed to find a legitimate excuse not to join them. Jacques was lovely. But loud.

“Gus, I love you,” Lucie sighed, looking at the plate of wonders in front of her. “Teach me how to cook?”

Gus laughed and placed the pizza in front of Shane as he answered.

“You and I both know you are too broke to afford what I’d charge you,” he grinned. Lucie had to admit that was true, but pouted at him anyway. “The rest of your meals will be right out.”

Jacques raised an eyebrow at his daughter.

“Broke, huh?” He probed. Lucie raised an eyebrow and met her father’s gaze coolly.

“No, dad, I live in a one room farmhouse out of choice.”

“You know I’ll always help you out if you need,” he said quietly, ignoring the uncomfortable shifting of the other three people at the table. Lucie smiled and pushed her dad back upright.

“And I don’t need. I’m getting by perfectly well, and if I ever am hungry, all I have to do is show up at Marnie’s looking a little bit pathetic and she feeds me. Then sends me away with leftovers.” Lucie grinned at Marnie. “Right?”

Marnie gave her a warning look.

“That was once, and you were out in a thunderstorm. Don’t make a habit of it.” She tried to sound stern, but she smiled at the young farmer. Lucie then turned to Lewis.

“And if I was really desperate, Lewis owes me one,” she beamed.

“I do?”

“Purple shorts?”

Marnie, Shane and Lewis all spluttered, Shane half-choking on his drink. Lucie’s grin widened. Lewis blushed a satisfying deep red. Jacques frowned and glanced between Marnie and Lewis.

“Oh, are they still pretending like no one knows about their relationship?” He asked, uncharacteristically quietly spoken. Lucie nodded, smirking at Marnie.

“It’s sweet how they think no one knows,” She teased.

“Low blow, Lucie,” Lewis finally managed to say. “And if you’re going to go there, how would your father like to know about the tree incident?”

* * *

“Not drinking, Shane?”

Lucie felt her soul shrivel up and die as her father asked the pointed question. Her hand moved under the table where she squeezed Shane’s thigh in the most apologetic way she could.

“Not tonight, no,” he answered, calmly, reaching to place his hand on top of Lucie’s lightly squeezing it back. She rolled her hand over and let his fingers intertwine with her own.

“Why not? Not a drinker?” Jacques pressed.

“Dad!” Lucie protested. Jacques shrugged.

“I’m just asking!”

“Well, stop asking!” The pink-cheeked Lucie responded. “You don’t need to hound Shane all day.”

“It’s not that big of a deal, I was just wondering if he likes a drink.” Jacques crossed his arms defensively. Lucie pressed a hand to the side of her head, tilting her hand to shield her mouth from the others at the table.

“If you don’t shut up, I’m going to put this fork through your hand,” she muttered through the gritted teeth of a fake smile. Jacques rolled his eyes and held up his hands in defeat. But his eyes flashed to Shane, slightly more warily a few times during their eating of dessert.

* * *

Lewis had left quickly after the meal, claiming a need to get up early the next day as his escape. They didn’t remain in the Stardrop much longer, with Marnie protesting she ought to get going too, and kicking Shane under the table until he, grudgingly, agreed. Lucie and Jacques negotiated walking them home, at the very least, after all, it was practically on their way.   
The evening was pleasant, the kind of cool that is refreshing, rather than unpleasant. The light wind blew them on their way, sending occasional shivers down Lucie’s spine. Shane stole a glance at her during one of her shivers and offered her his coat, which she refused. The refusal made the part of her that wanted to live in a romcom die a little. As did the farewell that they all said at Marnie’s door. Lucie wanted nothing more than to send her father back to her farmhouse on his own, and cling to Shane like a small child.   
But she said goodbye nicely, and saw the same pain in Shane’s eyes.

* * *

Her father waited until they were definitely on Lucie’s property before turning to her.

“Of all the people in this valley, you had to pick the drunk, didn’t you?”

Lucie stopped dead in her tracks.

“What?” Her voice was quiet, venomous with its softness.   
Jacques sighed, placing his hands carefully in his jacket pocket before turning to face his daughter head on.

“Look, Lucienne, I know you can’t help who you love, but you could have made life easier for yourself,” he said with a gentleness Lucie despised. “You know I know what I’m talking about. Your mother and I-“

“- This is nothing like you and her.” Lucie snapped.

“It’s exactly the same! You can’t spend your life trying to fix people, Lucie!” Jacques snapped. “They either want to get better on their own or they don’t, trust me.”

“I’m not trying to fix him!” She threw her arms in the air as she spoke. “He _used_ to have a problem! He chose to work at it! All I did was be nice - I just talked to him, he’s done all the hard stuff himself!” Lucie stalked away a few steps, then wheeled around and walked back again. “You know what? I’m going to stay at Marnie’s, or Haley’s or somewhere that isn’t with you. Have fun.”

She tossed the key at her father, letting it hit him in the chest. He bent to pick it up before calling after her.

“Lucie, don’t be ridiculous. Lucie. Lucienne! Don’t walk away from me.”

“Not a child anymore, Dad!”

* * *

Shane watched Lucie from out the upstairs window. Part of him felt like he should go see if she was okay, another part of him pointed out that pacing around, in the middle of a forest, gesturing wildly to herself, was not the behaviour of an ‘okay’ person. Surely, if she wanted someone to talk to, she’d just come knock on the door - after all, it was barely 100m away.   
She threw herself to the ground, staring up at the sky, mouth open in a contortion of a silent scream. He really ought to go see what the issue was.   
  
But it was kinda funny to watch. Scratch that, it was hilarious, given that she was now throwing a full blown tantrum, stomping her feet on the leaf-strewn ground.

* * *

“What are you doing?” Marnie’s voice floated towards him, and Shane’s head whipped to her in surprise. He stayed leaning against the window sill, and his gaze returned to Lucie in a matter of seconds.

“Just watching Lucie have a breakdown,” he answered cheerily. Marnie moved over to the window with him, frowning and tilting her head to the side.

“Should we invite her in?” She mused, watching as Lucie stood, and jumped around on the spot, her little fists pumping the air.

Shane grabbed her wrist as she moved towards the stairs.

“In- in a minute,” he grinned. Marnie hadn’t seen him this gleeful in, Yoba it must have been nearly a decade since she’d seen him this happy. “If she knows we’ve seen this tantrum, she’ll never come inside. But it’s fucking hilarious.”

* * *

Lucie took a deep breath. She picked the leaves out of her hair, smoothing it down once more and then straightened her clothes.

She breathed in a long, deep breath once more, then calmly headed back to her house to apologise to her father.

* * *

Tantrums were undignified, but sometimes you just need to throw a strop in a forest in the middle of the night.

* * *

“Sorry, dad.”

Lucie sat down on the far side of the couch to her father, but if she thought that’d get her out of a hug, she was mistaken.   
Jacques squished up to her on the couch, and bundled her up in the biggest bear hug he could manage, not relinquishing his hold on Lucie until she squeaked out that she did actually quite like breathing.

“I’m just worried about you,” he said, finally letting her wriggle out of his grasp. “I don’t want to watch you make the same mistakes I did.”

Lucie couldn’t look at her dad. She was already pretty certain she was going to start crying, but if she looked at him the dam would burst and no words would come out.

“I’m not trying to fix him,” she said quietly. “I’m not encouraging him to go to therapy, unless he brings it up, and I’m not discovering him from it either. I’m just … being. Here. And someone to talk to.”

Jacques stood, and nearly collided his head with the lampshade that dangled from the ceiling.

“I think a cuppa is in order,” he announced, moving to the kitchen in a few deft steps. Lucie let a small huff of air out, not quite a laugh, but trying to be. The amusement was there, but the energy was gone.

“Dad?” He turned. “Thanks for pushing me to come here. I’m glad I came. But I also really miss you.”

“I’ve missed you too, mon petit chou.” Jacques replied. He flicked the switch on the kettle and the roar filled the small room. “But you do know I’m only ever a bus ride away. Just send me a letter and I’ll come.”


	27. A Very Collapsed And Broken Sundae

Shane cradled the blue chicken gently, moving her from one coop to the next. If he was honest, he didn’t have a great reason for moving them to the closer coop, it was just paranoia and wanting to keep a closer eye on Eggatha Christie. After all, how many blue chickens were there in the world? And how many of them were as good as Eggatha Christie? Eggdar Allan Poe was a good bird, but Eggatha always seemed to look at him with a wisdom Shane couldn’t explain. Although that might have just been her face - slightly scathing was a safe face to have when he was speaking, so maybe he was giving Eggatha more credit than she deserved.

As though she’d heard him think the dry comment, Eggatha pecked him.

“Sorry,” Shane said softly, putting the chicken down on the ground. “I take it back.”

* * *

Jas was more receptive to learning about breeding chickens than Shane had expected.

* * *

Haley was in Pierre’s when Lucie arrived, a bundle of freshly picked veg in her little wicker basket. She caught sight of Lucie and slipped over to her with the silence of a ghost.

“I can’t believe that he didn’t get you the flowers.” Haley sighed. “I mean, I even checked that they were outside the morning I gave him the note! I put so much effort into it, and he didn’t even do anything with it.”   
Lucie frowned, and turned away from Haley. She caught Pierre’s eye as he slowly lowered himself to hide behind the counter. Apparently, he was not going to be taking part in this conversation until he worked out what he was allowed to say and what he wasn’t. Lucie wanted to hide with him.

“You literally helped him sneak into my house-“ Lucie began, turning back to Haley.

“A golden opportunity and he did _nothing_ with it!” She threw her hands in the air and sighed melodramatically. “Do I have to physically lock the two of you in a cupboard so that you can confess your feelings for each other?”

Lucie’s brain rolled through dozens of excuses that Shane must have come up with for getting Haley to help him break into her house, but then to somehow keep their relationship a secret. By Yoba, this was ridiculous. But winding Haley up was fun.

“Do not put me in any cupboard, I’m claustrophobic,” Lucie said lightly, pretending to inspect the shelves in front of her.

“Really?”

“No,” she turned back to Haley and grinned, “But I really don’t want to be locked in a cupboard with anyone. Not even Shane.”

Haley let out another large sigh and looked mournfully over at the bouquets that had now been moved inside, sheltering from the ever-cooling weather. Lucie followed her gaze and laughed out an exhale. The reproachful look she got from Haley didn’t deter her in the slightest.

“Haley. Are you by any chance projecting your issues on to me?” She teased. Haley rolled her eyes and swatted Lucie on the arm. Lucie laughed, dancing away from the hand that swatted her. “Why don’t you ask him out instead?”

“Don’t know what you’re on about.”

If Haley thought moving to the soup-section of the shop would get Lucie to drop the issue she was delusional, never mind sorely mistaken. Lucie had found her chance of topic and boy was she going to sink her teeth into it.

“Come on!” She grinned. “If you wait for Alex to ask you out, you’ll be an old woman before he twigs that you like him. He’s very sweet but he isn’t the best with reading emotions, so you are going to have act here.”

Haley pointedly ignored Lucie. Lucie stepped in front of her, and grabbed her face with both hands. Haley’s mouth squished into a mockery of a pucker, and she tried to yank her face away but she didn’t really try.

“Get off.”

“Not until you agree to buy a bouquet and ask Alex out. It’s not the 1800s, you are allowed to ask the guy out.”

“I know,” Haley whined. “But what if he doesn’t actually like me back?”

Lucie let go of Haley’s face and smiled softly at her.

“Haley?”

“Lucie?” Haley replied, mocking Lucie’s tone.

“Don’t be a fucking moron.”

* * *

Lucie was in the coop.   
Shane could tell from the slightly open door, the gate that wasn’t fully clicked shut, and the abundance of screaming that emerged from the slightly open door. He smiled to himself as he neared the coop, thinking about the coop he’d just left. The worst reaction he’d ever gotten out of any of his hens was a slight ruffling of feathers, paling in comparison with the war that Diogenes seemed determined to wage against Lucie.

“Afternoon,” he greeted Lucie, leaning against the door of the coop.

She paused, holding the chicken at arms length as she tried to pick up the egg near her feet. She might have halted, but Diogenes’ hadn’t, his talons digging into Lucie’s arm. “Do you need a hand?”

Shane didn’t wait for an answer, pushing himself up off the doorframe with a shove of his shoulder and taking his hands out of his pockets in one smooth action. He lightly grasped Diogenes, scooping the chicken into his arms as though he was cradling a baby. Lucie thanked him and bent to pick up the egg, placing it lightly in the basket.

“Thanks. I hate that chicken, he’s a bastard.”

Shane frowned at Lucie.

“Diogenes is female - you do know that right?” Shane said, a grin forming on his face. Lucie suddenly became very interested in her basket, moving eggs unnecessarily as she muttered a confirmation and a ‘well, of course, who’d be dumb enough to think that Diogenes was male, I mean, come on’ under her breath. Shane laughed at her as she pinked slightly and let Diogenes jump to the ground with a flutter of her feathers. He moved towards her and lifted her chin slightly, kissing her once, lightly. Lucie’s mouth followed his as he moved away, the parting too soon.

“Dumbass,” Shane whispered affectionately.

“Less mocking more kissing.”

* * *

Lucie’s head rested on Shane’s shoulder as they sat on her small porch, her eyes shut and face tilted towards the sun as though it was a warm summer’s day. Her tea sat next to her, forgotten.

He craned his neck and kissed her lightly on the head, the smell of her shampoo wafting around him as he moved. He’d live in this moment forever if he could.

“I wanted to show you something,” he said before he realised he was speaking. “But I never want to move from here.” Lucie smiled into his shoulder. He felt her jaw move, felt the smile rather than saw it.

“We could always come back,” she murmured, eyes still closed. “Might even invite you in this time.”

“Inside your house? How scandalous.”

“I know, but if we take the mugs with us then you’ll have to come back.” She opened her eyes, almost sleepily, and lifted her head. Shane stroked a hand against her cheek, brushing the strands of hair back to where they belonged.

“Okay,”

“Okay?” Lucie turned to look at him head on, her face barely inches from his.

“Or I mean, I could just come inside now. My mug’s empty.”

Lucie smiled and kissed him, her hands braced either side of him, the thin splinters of wood pressing into her palms.

“Okay.”

* * *

The sheets lay crumpled on the floor, swept out of the way with a half-hearted push of a hand. Their clothes were dumped on top of it, t shirts mingled with socks, Lucie’s clothes and Shane’s all tangled together in the one discard pile. On the very top of the pile lay a bra, abandoned with such a careful placement that it seemed to be the cherry on a sundae. A very collapsed and broken sundae.

Lucie’s foot knocked the cherry across the floor as she forced herself to stand, whispering

“One minute.” Softly as she disappeared off to the side. Shane barely noticed her leaving, lying on his back and struggling to not pant. His breaths came much quicker than he’d like, reminding him with each one just quite how unfit he was, his stomach expanding with each breath in such an unpleasant way.   
The absence of warmth beside him was suddenly noticed, and he opened his eyes, hunting for Lucie. They didn’t have to look for long, landing on her stood in the doorway of the bathroom, watching him pant. As their eyes met, she smiled, and he sat up.

“What?” He asked, covering himself with an arm.

“You’re gorgeous.” Was the only answer he was given as she moved across the room, lithely stepping over their discarded clothes and curling up around Shane’s body.

“There’s no need to mock me.” The words sent Lucie’s head bouncing, her hair somehow tangling into his mouth already. Her head lifted, turning to look at him with a sincerity that was somehow worse than the compliment.

“I’m not mocking you,” she said, stroking down the disrupted hair and kissing him lightly on the forehead. Shane prodded himself in the stomach as a response, raising an eyebrow at Lucie.

“I’m old and fat, and you think this is gorgeous?”

Lucie tilted her head at him and frowned.

“Is that really how you see yourself?” She asked. When Shane didn’t respond she pressed a kiss into his neck and smiled at him. She poked herself in her own stomach. “I’ve got a pouch but that doesn’t make me fat.”

“That’s different,” Shane protested, catching her hand and stopping it from prodding herself again.

“How?”

“It just is.”

Lucie booped him little on the nose. He flinched slightly, wrinkling his nose as she tapped it.

“You live on a farm and spend all day dragging heavy boxes around,” she said, lifting her leg over him and straddling his thighs. She pressed a kiss into his neck before continuing. Then stroked his shoulders. “These are not fat, I mean, seriously, Shane, these are some hella attractive shoulders.” Shane snorted, but Lucie didn’t falter as her hands slid down his arms. “This isn’t fat, this is muscle. And these hands? These could have sculpted by Michelangelo, they are that pretty.”

“My hands are pretty?” Shane raised an eyebrow at her. She smiled, and his hand lifted from her fingers to weave their way into the back of her hair.

“They are.” She insisted breathily. “They’re long, and soft, and pretty.”   
Shane’s hand pressed slightly into the back of her head, inviting her closer. Lucie obliged, but halted before she kissed him.

“Just because you have a bit of a beer belly doesn’t mean you are fat - and even if you were, that wouldn’t stop you from being gorgeous.”

“Are you trying to have your cake and eat it?” He teased, lifting his face slightly, his neck straining to reach the lips that Lucie held just out of his reach.

“Trying? Bitch, I’m succeeding.”

* * *

Lucie stood by her thought process that Shane was kinda ripped. Because he was.   
Not if you were expected film-star level of abs, but the man did have muscle and, holy Yoba Above, those shoulders did make her heart flutter just a little.   
  
Muscular shoulders had always been a bit of a weak point for her, and now he stood in her kitchen, back to her, and she could see the muscle moving under the skin. She wanted to reach out and just touch his shoulders, spreading her hands across his shoulder and just feel it move.

Was that weird? It felt like a pretty weird thought to have.

* * *

Shane brought the tea across to her, feeling unnervingly vulnerable wandering around someone else’s home with no clothes on. But the way Lucie looked at him made him want to walk around naked forever - especially if she returned the kindness.

He placed a kiss on her cheek and the tea in her hands, then slid back into the bed with her, never wanting to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has commented on this :) I'm legit like an overenthusiastic toddler whenever I get a notification :)


	28. Hypocritically Ever After

Spirit’s Eve was normally one of Shane’s favourite festivals.   
It was sufficiently spooky to be fun for everyone, but not so terrifying that Jas would cling to his arm and demand to be taken home. It was brilliant - and he never did manage to work out how those skeletons were animated. They were remarkably realistic looking.

* * *

They were starting to set up the events early, starting as he exited JoJo Mart the day before the festival even began. There were more people milling around the square than usual, more people enjoying the autumnal day.

More people including Lucie, who appeared to have not noticed Shane as she slipped behind the Mayor’s house, hiding between the house and his fence. Shane frowned at her, then moved towards the fence.

“What are you doing?” He asked, peering into the darkness. A hand snaked out, grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him into the gap too.

“You want to keep us a secret, yes?” Lucie asked, pulling his face down towards her. “Well, I want to kiss my boyfriend when he finishes work. Let’s call this a compromise.”

She tilted her head slightly, an invitation more than anything else. Shane obliged - after all, it would be rude not to.

“Boyfriend, huh?” He murmured into her ear, pressing the next kiss into her neck.

“Well, he wrote me a very lovely letter, so that’s what I’m assuming he is. Unless boyfriend is a terrifying word, in which case, I won’t use it again?” Lucie pulled apart from Shane and looked quizzically at him. He smiled back at her, and kissed her in way of an answer.

He then pulled back suddenly and glanced over his shoulder. Lucie began to mouth a question, but Shane shushed her with a gesture.

“Lewis - I don’t see why we have to keep this a secret.”

Lucie’s eyes grew wide. She grabbed Shane’s hand and jerked her head towards the fence. Shane shook his head slightly, mouthing ‘they’ll see us’.

* * *

A rapid conversation made up of hand gestures and mouthed words passed between the two of them, slightly panicked and incredibly awkward.

A deliberate clearing of a throat broke them out of the gestured conversation. Shane froze, not wanting to look behind him. Lucie winced and slowly leaned to the side, Lewis’ face slowly becoming visible, and slowly becoming angrier looking by the second.

“Heeeeyyyyyy,” Lucie said sheepishly, chancing a grin. The grin quickly turned to a grimace as Lewis stared into her very being.

“Do I want to ask why you’re hiding behind my house?” He asked, sighing and rubbing a hand against his hairline.

Lucie stood, grabbing hold of Shane’s hand and pulling him up with her. Shane mouthed ‘no, no, no’ to her, but it was in vain.

“I think all of us are good without me answering that. I think the reading between the lines is sufficient,” She answered, her feet shuffling slightly further behind Shane as she glanced behind her. “And, Lewis?”

“What?”

“Marnie has a point - secret relationships? Terrible idea.” Lucie glanced at Marnie, her face warping into a wince and added. “Don’t say it, I’m thinking it already.”

* * *

Lucie wished she could time travel, just to go back and stuff a dead fish in her own mouth.

She’d accidentally triggered an argument - an argument, she genuinely didn’t care all that much about. She thought. Maybe.

She hadn’t meant their relationship. That was still new, that was different - but there was no reason for Marnie and Lewis hide theirs. No one in the town would care who Lewis dated, Lucie was sure of that, and even if they did, what would they object to? The judging at the valley fair? It was a ridiculous excuse from Lewis, and Lucie knew he knew it.

* * *

What she didn’t know was how she was meant to ask any of the dozen questions that Shane asked her. Particularly the one about why it bugged her that he wanted them to be a secret.   
Until earlier she hadn’t realised that it had. And her inability to give him an answer only wound up Shane more. Lucie could see it written on his face that he didn’t believe her.

* * *

They argued all the next day, with Shane getting increasingly frustrated until he finally just walked away from Lucie, scoffing slightly as she pleaded at his retreating figure. She was being ridiculous - how hard was it to just keep it quiet for a few weeks? She was being so ridiculous that, come the Spirit’s Eve festival starting, Shane lurked near Gus and avoided all eye contact with her.

“Lover’s tiff?” Gus asked dryly. Shane glanced at him, and shoved his hands deep into his pockets, staring very intently at his feet.

“Yeah - no. Whatever.” It wasn’t his most coherent answer, but Shane didn’t care. He glanced up at Gus and felt the scowl form on his face. “Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Gus said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. He leant against the lamppost and glanced across at his friend. Or at least, Gus considered them to be friends, he didn’t know if the feeling was reciprocated. “I don’t know what you’re arguing about. But if I were you, I’d apologise to her.”

Shane muttered his reply too quietly for Gus to hear and nudged a can, abandoned three feet from the bin. He knew the action was childish, but Yoba, he wanted to sulk.

“Look, Shane, it’s Lucie. She won’t be holding whatever happened against you, so if you just go talk it out, she’ll probably end up blaming herself and you won’t even have to say much,” Gus continued.

“Yeah she’s already done that.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Gus’s exasperated fuelled the spin to look at Shane. “Lucie’s a really sweet girl and obviously she’s good for you, so why are you trying to sabotage this?”

* * *

Lucie couldn’t stop herself from looking for Shane every time her gaze slid away from Haley and Alex. He stood on the other side of the square, looking sullen and distracted. He wore the same expression that Lucie had seen on his face that first festival - like he wasn’t even really present.

A hand snapped in front of her eyes, and Lucie followed it back to its owner, dragging herself back to Haley’s wittering.

“Hey. You’re the one that pushed me to ask him out, the least you could do is listen to the story,” Haley sighed, putting the snapping hand back on her hip. Lucie apologised and refocused on her voice, moving so that her back was to Shane. Haley’s gaze softened and she glanced over Lucie’s shoulder to look at Shane. “You know, if you did want to talk about it, we’ll listen, right?”

Lucie smiled half-heartedly at her, and gave her a quick hug.

“Thanks, Haley. But unfortunately, I can’t talk about it because the ability to talk about it is the crux of the argument.” Lucie rubbed a hand against the back of her neck.

“Oh - is he doing the ‘can we keep the relationship a secret’ thing?” Alex asked suddenly. Haley elbowed him in the ribs as Lucie looked up at him suddenly. “I had a buddy in high school that used to do that and date, like, four girls at the same time.”

“Alex!” Haley hissed. “Not helpful!”

But Lucie smiled.

“Was your friend called John Tucker?” She asked with a wry smile. Alex frowned.

“No. He’s called Charlie,” he answered, confused, whilst Haley shook her head slightly. “And I heard that Shane did the same thing with his last girlfriend.”

“Okay, now that one was unnecessary,” Lucie admitted, struggling to keep the thought out of her head. “But now you’ve said it - last girlfriend?”

Haley looked at Alex, the warning glower so obvious that Lucie was sure alarms were audible from it. Yet, Alex answered without so much as a slight hesitation.

* * *

Lucie really didn’t need to know that she was one of the girls who’d come in on the bus from the city that afternoon. And really wished she hadn’t seen the over-enthusiastic greeting she gave Shane.

And so was so grateful when Jas gave her an excuse to escape the town hall and go into the maze.

* * *

Armed with rubber swords from Pierre’s stall, Jas and Lucie braved the maze, faux attacking everything faintly scary as they wandered through the hedges. Lucie intermittently turned to her and asked if she was frightened, but Jas would just stick her jaw out and plough on, determined to find the prize hidden at the centre of the maze. She strode rapidly around corners, moving as quickly as her little legs would allow her too, her heart pounding the whole time. Jas was not going to let Vincent out do her, and she’d seen him go in five minutes before her.

Jas and Lucie reached the centre of the maze, and came face to face with Penny and Vincent.

“I can’t find anywhere further to go, I’m sorry kiddo,” Penny was saying to Vincent when Jas leapt out at her and prodded her with the rubber sword. Penny shrieked in surprise, sending Lucie into fits of laughter. She swatted the sword away playfully, and Lucie handed hers to Vincent, letting the two children spar around the playground-turned-quicksand-pit.

“So, no hidden treasure?” Lucie finally said, if just to break the silence. Penny glanced sidelong at her and shrugged.

“I couldn’t find any hidden entrance - and if I’m honest, I think it’d be dark and spooky and Vince wouldn’t handle it well. Jas neither, but she’d never let on,” She said in a low tone, making sure that both kids were sufficiently distracted to not hear her.

“Ah,” Lucie replied with a smile. “That makes sense.”

Her smile faded rapidly as she saw Shane emerge out the hedge. Penny quickly cleared her throat and called both Jas and Vincent to head back out, ushering them away hurriedly. She glanced back to Lucie, almost apologetic, and then disappeared back towards the square.

* * *

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Bringing Jas in here, she won’t sleep for a week!” Shane hissed to Lucie. Lucie crossed her arms defensively and stared him down.

“Yes, because she is clearly terrified,” she retorted, gut roiling with irritation. “She practically dragged me in here - I figured if I didn’t go with her, she’d go alone. Would you prefer that?”

Shane scoffed.

“Are you telling me that you couldn’t say no to a seven year old?”

“Are you telling me that you _can_ say no to Jas when she’s decided she’s doing something?”

Shane tore his gaze away, shaking his head slightly. Lucie stepped back into his sightline and tilted her head up at him.

“Look, if you want to pick a fight, go for it, but this is a shit basis for a fight.” She held him with her gaze, and fixed him to the spot. Shane didn’t reply to her. “If you won’t talk to me like an adult, then I don’t want to talk to you.”

* * *

And so she walked away from him, leaving him in the centre of the maze, and alone.


	29. An a-maze-ing turn of events

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to berate me for the shitty chapter title. I do not care, I think I'm funny :)
> 
> Also, I've actually finished this whole thing so there will be a grand total THIRTY ONE chapters. I almost want to write four more so its a more pleasing number to end with, but then it wouldn't end where I want it to and that'd be sad. 
> 
> I'll shut up now :)

She came back almost immediately after, slightly flustered looking. Shane tried very hard not to look relieved - he didn’t want to fight with her, but he also didn’t want her to walk away. He didn’t know what he wanted.

“I’m sorry about this, but Alex said something dumb and now I can’t get it out of my head. Please don’t take it the wrong way - it’s not that I don’t trust you or - I just. My brain won’t let it go until I know the answer -“ Lucie’s words had fallen out in a tumble, tripping and spilling over each other in the hurry to get out. She glanced up at Shane’s face, saw his confusion and then pressed a hand to her forehead. “By Yoba this is ridiculous.”

Shane didn’t answer her, didn’t fill the silence. Then when Lucie voiced her concern he felt the hole in him widen, the small patch of emptiness that had been his life up until a few months prior. It wasn’t anger that washed through him, only a growing sense of emptiness.

“Do you want to keep us a secret so you can hook up with your ex?” Lucie’s face showed that she hated the words that fell out her mouth as much as Shane did. “I’m sorry - I just…if I didn’t ask it would drive me insane.”

“Why would you ever think that?” Shane asked, quietly, not looking at her. “Is that what you think of me?”

“No!”

“Why would you ever think it then?”

Lucie pressed her hands to her forehead and struggled to find the words. She spun on the spot turning away from him, then looking back. Her wide eyes met hurt ones, her heart cracking as she met Shane’s gaze. She took in a deep, juddering breath then paused. Say the right words this time, Lucienne, she scolded herself.

“When you said you didn’t want people to know about us, I thought you meant for a week or two,” she said slowly, tearing her eyes away and sitting on the small wooden border of the play-area. “But we’re forecast snow next week - it’s been an entire season and I’m scared to end up like Marnie and Lewis. Skulking around, terrified that people will find out and not actually being able to be together, properly.” Lucie plucked at the grass at her feet, and couldn’t bring herself to look up. She didn’t know Shane had moved until the wood creaked slightly, his weight joining hers.

“‘I want my time with you’,” he quoted softly. Lucie looked up, surprised, her pupils swallowing the darkness of the maze. Shane shrugged and looked away. Lucie grabbed the hand that sat on his thigh and squeezed it.

“I do.” The earnest in her voice made Shane’s gut clench slightly. “I want - I want picnics in the woods in the spring, I want day trips to the city to waste our time in coffee shops and bookstores and wherever, I want evenings in with the fire burning and sat together on the couch. I want to walk you to work and kiss you goodbye at the door. I want to walk through the town square holding your hand, instead of stealing a glance every now and again. I want to sneak into this stupid maze together and everyone to know that the main reason why we’ve gone in is just to sneakily make out in the darkness,” she caught her breath, the small shocked gasp filling the air. “I want to be with you and not have any part of me question whether or not you’re embarrassed to be seen with you. I don’t want to have to tell myself that I’m being paranoid and stupid.”

She sniffed and dropped his hand. Her words hung in the air, loitering like unwelcome visitors that had stayed far too long, haunting her with their raw truth.

“I’m not embarrassed to be with you,” Shane finally said, staring at the hand Lucie had let go of only moments before. “I was scared you would be - and, and that someone would say something and you’d realise how ridiculously out of my league you were.”

Lucie glanced up at him, and he had the grace to look slightly sheepish. His small smile broke her and she spluttered with laughter. Shane slowly relaxed and let himself join in.

“I can’t believe that our argument was that we both think the other is too good for us,” Lucie giggled, leaning into Shane. He lifted an arm and wrapped it around her, his thumb stroking the curve of her shoulder.

“Lucie?” He said after a few moments of silence, the name murmured lightly into her hair.

“Mhm?”

“Amber? My ex? Is the most pretentious woman I’ve ever met. We went on one date because Jas’ dad wanted to watch me suffer, and now she uses it as an excuse to come to our ‘quaint little festivals’. If I knew how to stop her, I would.”

* * *

Having resolved the petty fight, Lucie and Shane suddenly realised quite how long they’d been hiding in the centre of the maze, and how unnervingly uninterrupted they’d been. In order to justify their absence, they decided that they would have to find the centre of the maze, find whatever had been hidden and return triumphant.

They were failing miserably. It wasn’t until Shane tripped on a small root and fell through the hedge, rather than into it, that they discovered the hidden tunnel in the rock face.

“By Yoba, it’s dark in here,” Lucie muttered, her voice echoing back through the tunnel, whispering back promises of all the nasty things that lurked in the mines. The hand that laced into hers startled her, sending Shane into a fit of laughter. She squatted him away and strode into the small opening alone. But she reached back for his hand as soon as he followed her.

“Is that a chest?” Shane asked, reaching out to touch the wooden box in the centre of the cavern.

“Looks it,” Lucie said distractedly, running her hand along the top of the chest. Her hand hit metal, and she flicked open the catch. Even in the darkness, they could seen the shine of the golden pumpkin, the faintest hints of light glinting on the ridges of the vegetable. Lucie scooped it up and offered it to Shane, but he pushed it back into her hands, stepping towards her as he did so. Instead, he kissed her lightly on the forehead, then the cheek, then he found her lips. He felt her smile as he pulled back.

“What was that for?” She asked after a satisfied exhale emerged without her permission.

“Just felt like it.” Shane laced his fingers back between hers. “Come along, Farm Girl, let’s go find the light again.”

* * *

Haley was loitering in the maze, only a few hedges away from where Lucie and Shane had sat on the wooden border. She caught sight of the two of them rounding the hedge and clasped her hands in front of her face.

“Did you two make up? Please say you did,” she pleaded.

Lucie smiled and rolled her eyes.

“No, Haley, I always hold hands with people I’m fighting with.” The sarcasm dripped from her, but Haley only looked at her reproachfully for a second before squeaking happily and throwing herself at both of them. The impromptu hug was made more awkward by Shane’s half-hearted pat on Haley’s back.

“You can let go now,” he said, the words slightly stilted. Haley obliged, somewhat grudgingly.

“And you _finally_ asked her out!” She beamed at Shane. “Took you long enough.”

Lucie and Shane exchanged a sheepish glance, before he echoed Haley’s statement back at her, as though confirming that he had indeed just asked Lucie out. And not two months prior. Luckily, Haley was too excited to notice the obvious mistruth.

“Why do you have a pumpkin?” Haley frowned at Lucie, pointing at the pumpkin cradled under her arm, as though Lucie might have been confused as to what Haley meant by ‘pumpkin’.

“Maze snack.” Lucie tried to walk past Haley and out the maze without clarifying further.

“You aren’t funny, you know.”

“Au contraire, mon amie. Je suis trés drôle,” Lucie retorted. Haley blinked. “I’m hilarious. Now, move, I’m hungry and I can smell Gus’ burgers from here.”

* * *

The small smile that Lucie gained from Marnie was more heartbreaking to see than had she burst into tears. Lucie’s heart flew out to her, but the only response she had was a small smile to Marnie, and a squeeze of Shane’s hand. The glance to Lewis cracked something in Lucie and she had to wrench herself away before she started to let herself feel Marnie’s pain for her.

“Lucie,” Haley warned. “Don’t go interfering in other people’s relationships.”

Lucie looked at her, outrage jerking her chin back.

“You hypocrite - you do nothing but interfere!” She spluttered. Haley grinned.

“Exactly. Leave the interfering with me,” she sang, before bounding off to Alex. Lucie shook her head lightly, then glanced up at Shane, the ghost of a smile lingering in her eyes.

“Are you two trying to make my home life hell?” Shane muttered, only faintly grouchy. Lucie smiled at him.

“Only bad enough that you want to run away and stay with me forever,” she teased. She raised herself on to tiptoe and lightly pressed a kiss into Shane’s cheek, the faint stubble grazing her chin. “Or if not forever, at least tonight?”

Shane grinned at her, and kissed her in lieu of an answer. Then he paused, glancing over his shoulder, and said:

“I’m going to go tell Marnie so that she doesn’t panic and think I’m dead again.”

“Good plan.”

Shane faltered, and resisted the urge to pout.

“I feel like a teenager asking permission to sleep over at a friend’s house,” he grumbled. Lucie laughed lightly and raised herself on to tiptoes. She waved at Marnie, who caught her gaze. Lucie gestured to her and Shane with her thumb, then towards her house. She didn’t wait for the response before spinning Shane around and heading back towards her farm, hand in hand with him.


	30. Bonding Over Daddy Issues

Autumn bled into Winter, and the Winter was cold.

It lingered longer than Lucie had hoped it would, the snow settling on the ground and refusing to budge. The first few weeks had just had slightly frozen ground, which meant she had to struggle to dig out the few winter roots and berries hidden under the white blanket, but a month into Winter and the snows came up past her ankle. There was no hope for foraging, no hope for farming, and the heater in her coop had broken that morning. The broken heater had meant that she’d debated letting Diogenes and co come live in her house for a bit, but then she remembered how annoying cleaning up chicken poo was.

But she couldn’t just leave them there, and she couldn’t afford to buy a new heater, not when she couldn’t supplement her own meals with homegrown food.

* * *

Shane wasn’t quite sure why he was headed towards Lucie’s, other than he was bored and needed something to do. He heard her before he saw her, the lilting voice of someone trying to sing multiple harmonies simultaneously.

“Watch now, he’ll soon be along and he’s finer than any- Shane!” She cut off suddenly, the embarrassment of being caught flooding her cheeks. Despite her blushing, her fingers continued to tap out the rhythm on her forearm, and Shane smiled at her.

“You’re such a dork,” he said, catching her hand. “I love it.”

Lucie grinned and turned away, tucking a non-existent strand of hair behind her ear.

“Were you coming for something?” She asked, her hands finding each other and rubbing together to stop tapping out the rhythm of the sea shanty once more. Shane’s smile faltered, then returned the same as before.

“Just to see my good buddy, Diogenes,” he teased, untucking Lucie’s hair. She put it back behind her ear and shook her head slightly at him. Then, her eyes widened.

“Oh! Are you any good at fixing heaters? I don’t know if mine is dead-dead or just pretending-dead, and I can’t afford a new one,” she winced slightly.

“I can take a look?” Shane offered, knowing full well he had nothing useful to say about the heater. “But you could always keep your chickens at ours for a little bit if you wanted. Eggatha won’t mind.”

“ _Eggatha?!_ ”

“I could quite easily go home, you know.”

“Sorry - please help. Eggatha is a wonderful name and I will never mock it again,” Lucie bowed her head in mock sheepishness. When she glanced up her eyes sparkled and Shane felt his heart stutter at how beautiful she looked, with the small flakes of snow dotting her hair.

“And you know, if you’re that broke you can always-“ He trailed off as Lucie shot him a warning look.

“No.”

“Okay - heater?”

“Heater.”

* * *

Somehow, and he wasn’t entirely convinced he even knew how, Shane snapped the heater in two and ended up carrying two of Lucie’s three chickens towards Marnie’s Ranch. When Diogenes fluffed up her feathers and snapped at Sophocles, tucked under Shane’s right arm, he spoke to them both in stern, yet soothing, voices.

“Hey, stop it. Play nice, both of you,” he said, looking between the two chickens. Diogenes made a small yap of protest, but settled back into the crook of his arm and stared off in the opposite direction to Sophocles. A hand pressed into his back, and he turned towards Lucie to see her smile and lift herself on to her toes to kiss his cheek.

“What was that for?” He asked, bemused. She merely smiled and returned her hand to Plato, scooping the chicken back into the more comfortable spot on her arm. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Lucie laughed at his confusion, and hummed lightly to herself, moving ahead of him towards the ranch doors. Shane would never understand her, but watching her bounce towards the door of the place he knew as home filled him with a warmth he didn’t object to. If she only put a fraction more enthusiasm into her steps, she’d be skipping.

“Are you coming?” She teased, hand resting on the door handle.

* * *

Marnie wasn’t in when they moved from the coop to the kitchen, and Shane thanked whatever spirits were listening. He’d felt like every time he’d been with Lucie for the past few weeks, there had always been someone just around the corner to interrupt, and so having this moment of privacy was so welcome.

They had been alone at points, but that was mostly spent in Lucie’s bed, and whilst Shane liked sex as much as the next guy, this was a different kind of intimacy. One that felt new to him, the casual affection of two people in a kitchen. And when Lucie started lowly singing a something to herself, the smile burst on to his face. He loved that she sang in front of him, because, Yoba, she was a terrible singer but so enthusiastic.

The kettle came to boil and he glanced across at Lucie, able to hear the lyrics as well as the tune now. Whilst he’d recognised the tune as one that Willie often sang to himself, the lyrics were utterly incomprehensible to him.

“Are you…singing in French?” He asked, frowning at her as he fished the tea bag out of the mug. Lucie stopped singing and laughed lightly.

“Well, yeah,” she said, lifting the mug out of his hands.

“Didn’t know you knew French.” Shane’s hands were still cupped, as though the mug was still there. “I don’t know any other languages.”

Lucie raised an eyebrow at him, laughing at his slightly puzzled expression. She placed the mug on the counter and closed the distance between them. Her hands found Shane’s hips and pulled him close.

“Shane - my dad’s side of the family is French. I think I knew French before I spoke any English,” she laughed, kissing away his puzzled face. When she drew back, Shane looked as confused as before. “Did the names Lucienne and Jacques not give it away?”

Shane muttered something under his breath and looked away.

“Drink your tea and stop pointing out that I’m dumb,” he said, slightly more audible this time. Lucie laughed and kissed his nose.

“Not dumb at all,” she teased. Then it was her turn to frown slightly. “But, I mean, I know nothing about your family either, so I’ll probably say some equally dumb things.”

Shane turned away, picking up the black coffee he’d made for himself, and gestured through to the lounge. Lucie sidled through the doorway and then darted back for the tea that she’d left abandoned on counter. Her sheepish grin made Shane want to make her tea and distract from it forever.

“There’s not much to say about my family,” he said, shutting the lounge door behind him. “It’s really just Marnie and Jas. My parents died when I was a teenager.”

Lucie looked up at him from the couch, her eyes wide.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, and meant it.

“It was a long time ago.” Shane shrugged. Lucie squeezed his hand and repeated her condolences. Shane didn’t let go of her hand, not squishing it, but holding it lightly. Lucie looked to him, waiting for him to fill the silence with something more about himself, but he didn’t.

“Was your mum French too?” He asked, glad to change the subject. Lucie’s face darkened slightly. She took her hand back, placing it around her mug and drinking from it rather than answering him.

“No.” She stared at the fireplace, empty and darkened with soot. “No, she hated that my dad spoke to me in French rather than English.”

“Hated?” Shane asked. He knew he should drop it, avoid the topic that was clearly closed. But Lucie never spoke of her mother and he wanted to know. Surely she’d tell him to shut up if she didn’t want to tell him.

She didn’t, she merely sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

“Yeah,” Lucie said after a short silence. “We don’t speak anymore.”

“Sorry,” Shane spoke quietly. Lucie glanced at him, mustering a small smile.

“I’m not.” Her voice was firm, but light. “She’s a horrible person, and I don’t need her in my life. I’ve got my dad and you - and honestly, I don’t think of her at all.” Drinking from her tea to stop her from saying anything more, Lucie shut her eyes for a long moment.

* * *

They spent the afternoon talking about their families, pausing intermittently as they each worried they’d asked something too painful, but the answers always came. Shane was surprised to find himself telling Lucie about how he practically ran to college to get away from the town he grew up in, where everyone just looked him as the poor kid who’d lost both of his parents. How he’d been so desperate for approval that he’d joined the first sports team he saw, and then discovered that he actually really liked grid ball - the bro culture less so, but he could cope with being the team loner. He told Lucie how he’d met Jas’ mother at a game, when he’d been stuck on the sidelines due to an injury, and she’d been the student roped into making sure anything vaguely technical worked perfectly due to the coach having a remarkable ability to break everything he touched. She’d started talking to him out of boredom, then asked him out for coffee the next day. And how, over coffee, they’d realised that they were polar opposites and a relationship would implode within a month, but a friendship? A friendship could work.

As Lucie told him about her mother’s affair with her therapist’s receptionist, Shane light the fire, trying not to laugh at her mimicry of a city accent. Lucie wove the story as though it were a comedy and not a tragedy - dramatising everything with poor accents and gestures.

“- so then, the bitch has the gall, the GALL, to blame my dad for the water damage!” She laughed as he sat back down next to her. “As though her leaving the bath running and walking out was his fault in any way. And so, that is how I learnt the term ‘gaslighting’ at the ripe age of eight years old.”

“Lucie, I mean this from the bottom of my heart,” Shane pressed a hand against his chest. “Your mother sucks.”

Lucie laughed.

“If I ever start to sound like her, do me a favour and just put me out of my misery,” she joked, only half-insincere. She glanced towards the window, and noticed the white flakes falling in the dusky late afternoon. “Yoba, it’s still snowing?”

She knelt on the couch, turning her whole body towards the window like a child, her feet poking off the edge of the cushion. Shane was so tempted to tickle her feet, just to hear her shriek with laughter, but she turned back before he could reach for them.

“What?” He asked as Lucie nodded out the window.

“I know why Marnie’s been gone so long,” she said, pointing at the outside world. “Look.”

Shane grumbled, but stood and looked out the window. The snow was nearly at the lip of the window sill. Lucie grinned.

“We’re snowed in?”

“Climb out the window and go see if Marnie and Jas are okay?” Lucie suggested, a wry smile, pushing herself off the couch to stand next to him. Shane raised an eyebrow at her.

“Jas is with Vince. She’ll be better fed and looked after than she’d ever be by either of us. And Marnie will love the excuse to stay at Lewis’, because we both know she’s not been at JoJo Mart for five hours every Thursday.” Shane turned to Lucie. “And I can think of something more fun we can do than trekking a mile to go see if the fine people are fine.”


	31. This Is Where You Chose To End? This Non-Ending? What Is Wrong With You? And Other Criticisms :)

Lucie lay by the fire, the carpet rough on her bare skin, the blanket covering her more for show than warmth. She rolled over, the heat of the flames licking at her back, and Shane’s hand stroking the length of her ribs. He looked lazily at her, at the spaces the blanket didn’t cover, and smiled slowly at her, his eyes half-closed with contentment.

Lucie lifted her leg over his, wrapping herself into him, her body curving fully against his.

“Yoba, I hope Marnie hasn’t decided to trudge through the snow to make sure you’re okay,” Lucie murmured into Shane’s ear. He pushed her shoulder lightly, groaning overly dramatically.

“Why?” He moaned, rolling on to his back to look up at the ceiling. Lucie wriggled into the small gap between his arm and body, her head resting on his shoulder. “Why would you ruin this moment by bringing up Marnie?”

“Maggie would claim its a remnant of my self-destructive behaviour, routed in my fear of commitment,” Lucie said, tracing swirled on Shane’s bare stomach. “But I’d argue that she can’t bring up my fear of commitment now, given that I am wholly committed to you, and I was the one who pushed for us to be public.” Lucie paused, her finger stilling on the small crease on his ribs. “Or maybe she’d claim the pushing you was my subconscious trying to sabotage us.”

Shane caught Lucie’s hand, lifting it to his mouth and pressing a kiss into her palm.

“I’m so glad you are not my therapist,” he teased. Lucie pulled her hand back and used it to stroke his hair.

“Me too,” she smiled. “Therapists can’t date their patients. It’s unethical.”

* * *

They lay there, talking quietly, for an hour or so, before Lucie stole the blanket, to go find some drinks for them. When Shane asked her to find the bottle of wine he’d stashed in the fridge, she didn’t question it, but she did pause long enough for Shane to supplement the request with an explanation.

“When I tried to go cold turkey I just ended up going on a bender a week later. Cutting back works a hell of a lot better for me - and it’s easier to stop drinking wine than beer,” he said, propping himself up on to his elbows. He shrugged slightly then smirked at Lucie. “Plus it feel a little classier.”

She laughed at that, then sauntered out the room to find the wine and two glasses.

* * *

Lucie rested her hand on the base of her wine glass, looking up at Shane as he dressed to go fetch more firewood. Her other hand was curled beneath her chin, her elbow resting on the coffee table, legs crossed like a child at story time.

“I love you,” she said.

And that was it.

* * *

Shane always thought that when those words were said that it had to be some major moment. That they had to be savoured and held, and kept close until a particular moment, but no. Lucie seemed to just think them and then they came from her mouth, like she’d said nothing more than ‘it’s still snowing’. When he went to say them back, he felt his mouth tremble and shut it once more. Instead he kissed the top of her head, and went to fetch firewood.

* * *

Lucie hoped to everything that might listen, from Junimos to Yoba himself, that she hadn’t overstepped. But stood there, pulling a jumper over his head and ruffling up his hair, Shane had been the most wonderful creature in existence. She couldn’t help but think of a quote from a TV show she’d loved all those worlds away when she’d lived in Zuzu City:

‘And then you get to know them and their face just sort of becomes them, like their personality is written all over it. And they just - they turn into something so beautiful’.

Shane was the most beautiful man she’d ever met. Then the words came, because there were no other words. She loved him, and he smiled at her. And that was enough.

The oh-so-feared moment when she finally confessed that she did love him was never going to happen on some moment occasion, because she’d already said it to him. She’d said it as she sat with him in Harvey’s Clinic. She’d said it as she’d walked Jas home from Penny’s, knowing that Shane would be at home, dreading going out in the rain. She’d said it in coming to see him under the pretence of needing hay. She’d said it by learning the pepper poppers recipe by heart and practising it over and over until she couldn’t get it wrong.

Lucie had spent the last few months telling Shane that she loved him. She just didn’t realise it until now.

* * *

Shane returned with a basketful of firewood and an apology. He placed the basket down by the fire, and spoke more to it than to Lucie, feeling the awkwardness of his words, falling out of his mouth as stiffly as the wood fell from his hands.

“I’m sorry I didn’t say it back,” he told the fire. “I just…” He didn’t know what he just. But Lucie saved him from answering, her hand finding the small of his back and kissing his clothed shoulder lightly.

“You don’t need to say it,” she murmured lightly. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder, the blanket clasped in front of her chest in her free hand. The hand that had touched his back slid around his waist as she continued, “You’ve said it in the things you do.”

Shane pressed the hand that wrapped around his waist into his stomach, holding it tightly. He glanced at the head full of curls, lightly placed on his shoulder.

“Promise me something?”

“Mm?” Lucie opened her eyes slowly, as if waking from a deep sleep. She looked up at Shane with no guards up, an openness in her face that made him love her even more. Even if he couldn’t say it, he felt it in every fibre of his being.

“Promise me you won’t ever stop hearing me say it in the things I do,” he murmured. Lucie lifted her head and shifted her weight slightly so that she looked at Shane head on.

“Only if you promise me something in return?” She said, her thumb rubbing small circles into the knuckle of his own thumb. He raised an eyebrow in way of response. “Promise me you won’t ever leave me without at least trying to fix whatever went wrong between us?”

Shane lifted her chin and kissed her softly. He didn’t move his face away from her when they stopped, their foreheads pressed together as he answered her in a voice so low it was almost inaudible.

“I promise.”

Lucie sighed happily and shut her eyes once more.

“And they lived happily ever after,” she murmured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note the chapter title is taken directly from my friend's response to me ending this here. It was followed up with another message which said 'but... that's not an ending. It's like, a pause.'
> 
> And she's right, because I had a lot of fun writing this, I'm probs going to series it and so it is more of a pause than an end. But it didn't make sense to chronicle their whole lives together, so we're stopping here, at the underwhelmingly casual evening.


End file.
